Flunking Family Planning
by Lady Henrietta
Summary: Season 3: With death, pain, and loss throwing people apart, can a mysterious teenager help bring two people together? AdamaRoslin
1. Daughter

Disclaimer: Battlestar Galactica belongs to Ronald D. Moore and the Sci-Fi channel. Set following the episode "The Passage."

Flunking Family Planning

Chapter 1: Daughter

Admiral Bill Adama sank down into his couch, staring into the glass of green liquid that he had poured himself. It had sounded like a good idea at the time, having a drink. He just let it swirl around in his cup, his thoughts going back to the service. CAG Louanne 'Kat' Katraine's funeral service had just ended. _She didn't deserve this_, the thought ruefully.

A knock at the door made him stand and meander over to the door. _Please don't let it be Dee or Saul with civilian complaints again. I can't handle it right now._ He opened the hatch and was surprised to see President Roslin. "Laura, is everything alright?" he questioned.

His voice sounded more gravely than usual. "I thought you could use some company, Bill," she said gently.

Though his first inclination was to ask her politely to leave, he then remembered that she understood. "Come on in," he offered.

She smiled politely and walked in. He offered her a drink and she accepted. Then he found himself back on the couch as he had been before, only with her sitting on the other side. "I'm sorry about Kat. Your speech was very good though," she conveyed as she took a sip of her drink.

He finally took a drink of his Ambrosia. _I guess I was just waiting for someone to commiserate with_. "I didn't do her justice. She didn't deserve to die like that," he said dryly.

Roslin nodded, thinking of Billy Keikeya. "It's hard losing people younger than you. They're supposed to be the ones carrying the human race," she paused and swallowed the emotion welling up as her right hand rested on the couch, "and yet we're the ones that are alive to keep going."

Adama took another drink and covered her right hand with his left for a moment. "The problem when you start seeing them as your children is that it makes everything harder when they get themselves into trouble," he mentioned.

She took a deep breath and allowed a few tears to slip by. "There are times when I really miss Billy. He was the son I never had."

"Kat was like a daughter to me. Granted, Starbuck's been like a daughter too from time to time, but it was different. Kat wanted me to be proud of her in particular. What I thought of her meant a lot to her," he said as he sighed heavily. Then he removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes, unable to keep his own tears from slipping through. "I was telling her about Zack and Lee, and she asked me if I ever wanted a daughter. I told her 'yeah, three's a good round number,'" he admitted.

Roslin abandoned her drink and reached out to put a caring hand on his arm. He left his drink on the table near the lamp and the two hugged. "One day," she whispered, "one day we'll find peace. We have to keep hoping."

Then they parted and she stood. As she wiped her eyes, he joined her and walked her to the door. "Goodnight, Bill," she stated with a sad smile.

"Goodnight, Laura," he replied. Before she could leave, he held her hands for a moment. "Thanks for stopping by."

"You're welcome," she said softly before kissing him lightly on the cheek. As she left, he cleaned up the glasses, knowing that despite the tragedies, tonight he would be able to sleep.

Adama stood with Colonel Tigh in CIC two days later as the officers conducted their preliminary scans for the morning. Suddenly as they watched the viewscreen, one of their own shuttles jumped into view. "Sir, were we scheduled to have shuttle jump tests today?" Tigh asked.

Adama shook his head. "No, we weren't." He noticed that the ship was venting something and the black marks showed that it had been attacked. "Lieutenant, can we contact the shuttle?" he asked his son's wife, Dee Adama.

"Sir, it's hailing us," she answered, pausing. She faced him hastily when she recognized something the shuttle had sent. "And whoever it is, they're using your call sign, sir."

"Put it through, lieutenant," he ordered.

The transmission was crackling, due to the shuttle's damage. "Dad, it's Vie, I got the ship to jump, but I got hit on the way back. I'm… venting atmosphere and I can't… breathe. It's me, Dad, let me dock. Had to… use emergency… call sign."

Adama looked around CIC, hesitant to simply open the docking bay. "Does she sound familiar to anybody?" he asked. They all shook their heads.

Another transmission crackled through. "Dad, please, I can't breathe," the speaker wheezed. Something inside Adama told him that they could not just let whoever or whatever was on that ship die.

"You have permission to dock," the admiral responded. Then he turned to Tigh. "Open the hanger," he ordered.

"Sir, what if-" Tigh wanted to be cautious.

"Do it, Colonel. And then meet me in the docking bay with a security team and some medics," he instructed.

When the group reached the hanger, the main door had closed and the shuttle was beginning to open. The voice on the other side of the door belonged to a teenage girl, who appeared to be the only passenger. She had a dark green tote bag over her shoulder and could not stop coughing. "Permission… to come… aboard… sir?" she requested as best she could.

"Permission granted," he said quickly.

Coughing hard, she staggered out of the shuttle, but then collapsed on the deck, leaving Major Cottle and the medics to carry her to Life Station. They set her on the bed and Adama studied her. _She can't be older than seventeen or eighteen_, he thought to himself. Once they reached Life Station, Adama and Tigh watched as Cottle put the girl on oxygen for a while, quickly taking a sample of her blood to test in the Cylon detector. He did not want to be in the way, so he watched from one side, just out of the girl's view. She was wearing a blue day uniform.

After a while she was sitting up. When Cottle put the oxygen tank away, she stared at him intensely. "Something wrong, young lady?" he asked.

"You're dead," she exclaimed. "I saw you shot two years ago! How are you here?"

Cottle smirked and shook his head. "Maybe I took you off the oxygen too soon. I've been here all along. I don't know what you're talking about," he stated. "I'll be right back," he commented, leaving her and walking in the direction of the admiral.

"What do you think, Jack?" Adama asked him.

The doctor glanced over at her to see her sitting quietly on the bed still. "I honestly don't think she's a Cylon. She might not be playing Triad with a full deck, but I think she's all human," he replied.

"Do you know what's wrong with her?" Tigh inquired.

"She's got a disease that causes constriction in the bronchial tubes," he paused and ran his fingers through his hair. "What I can't figure out is why she never got it treated."

Adama watched as the girl lied down. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that we cured it six years ago. Its one of the reasons that I don't think she's a Cylon," Cottle conveyed.

"We need to know who she is as soon as possible," Adama reasoned, handing the bag that the girl had been carrying earlier to the colonel. "There might be some form of ID in there. What I'd like to know is how in the hell she got my call sign."

Tigh found a plastic holder attached to a lanyard, containing exactly what Adama had wanted. The colonel looked at it intensely. "Sir, I think this might explain it," he said as he handed it over to the admiral. The ID card read: Violet L. Adama.


	2. What you leave behind

Disclaimer: Battlestar Galactica belongs to Ronald D. Moore and the Sci-Fi channel. Violet Adama is mine.

Chapter 2: What you leave behind

He held the card in his hand and stared at it, as if trying to figure out whether or not it was real. _Is this some kind of a joke? Somebody owes me a lot of answers_. Adama and Tigh walked close to the girl on the bed so that they were now in her line of sight. She sat up and smiled with relief and warmth. "Uncle Saul! Dad!" she exclaimed.

Tigh crossed his arms and glared at her. "Young lady, I don't know who you are, or who you're trying to be, but you sure as hell aren't related to me," he growled.

The girl's face seemed to lose its color. She stared at him with lively green eyes. Then she noticed his eye patch. "I'm so sorry. What happened to you're eye?"

"That's none of your damn business. Now who are you and what do you want?" he demanded.

She looked from him to Adama, her cocoa-brown hair falling in her face. _Looks familiar, _he thought. She pulled her hair back and let it return to its usual place in the middle of her back. "Dad, I understand if you're mad at me about the shuttle, but don't you think this is taking it a little far? And where's your mustache? Never mind. It was all Jake's fault."

Cottle interrupted. "Who's Jake?"

Taking a pause to look as the admiral, as if waiting for him to react to something, she continued. "Jake Camaretti is a good friend of mine. He used to be a physicist, but now he works with the engines on the Vipers and shuttles," she paused and stared at the doctor again, and then turned back to the other two me. "Can you guys see him too?"

"Why wouldn't we?" Tigh stated.

She sighed and shook her head. "As I was saying, he just shoved me into the shuttle when you radioed everyone to abandon ship and set it on autopilot," she mentioned. "What happened to the Cylons attacking us?"

This was a bit much for the admiral. He sighed, closed his eyes, and rubbed the bridge of his nose in thought. "I really don't know what you're talking about, miss. You just appeared. We haven't seen any Cylons in almost a week. Now could you please tell us who you are?" he requested with as much patience as he could muster.

For a second, he noticed a combination of fear and sadness etched into her face. _Oh no, I have no idea how to handle this if she starts crying_, he thought. But then she took a deep breath and took on a stony reserve of sorts. "Admiral Adama and Colonel Tigh, I presume?" she asked. When both nodded she continued. "I am Violet Adama, age seventeen, no rank to speak of. Now is somebody gonna tell me what's going on?" she pursued.

There was something familiar about the tone, and the facial expression, but Adama could not put his finger on it. "Why are you wearing a uniform if you don't have a rank?" Tigh interrogated.

"My parents thought it was easier than civilian clothes," she answered plainly.

Before Adama could say anything else, Cottle spoke. "Miss, Jake Camaretti was a pilot who died on New Caprica," he informed her.

"New Caprica? What the heck is New Caprica?" she asked, looking at the others quizzically.

"Where the hell have you been for the past two years?" Tigh demanded. "Do you even know who the current president is? Haven't you been-" Adama put a hand up.

"That's enough, Saul," he said calmly.

"Of course I know who the president is, Bruce Alliard," she answered matter-of-factly.

"Never heard of 'im," Cottle mentioned.

Violet suddenly looked slightly more alert, watching all three of them. "I know what happened; I've been captured by Cylons."

The admiral shook his head and looked directly into her eyes. "I'm not quite sure how to prove it to you, but I promise you we're not Cylons. We're trying to make sure you're not a Cylon," he informed her.

She let a half-smile through her guard and Cottle looked from her to Adama and back. "That's good, because if you guys are Cylons then I'm really screwed," she added.

Tigh looked back and forth at the two. "Maybe you two are related."

"I can test it easily enough," Cottle stated. Violet allowed him to take another sample of her blood for analysis. The she sighed and closed her eyes, rubbing the bridge of her nose in thought. Having seen the admiral do the same moments before, Tigh was beginning to notice more similarities.

At last she looked up and faced the two officers again. "I know what's wrong. This isn't my timeline. Something must have gone wrong with the experimental engine. The shuttle you found me in has a trans-chroniminal jump engine, and it had never been tested before."

"I'm sorry, you lost me when you said that this isn't your timeline," Tigh interjected.

The girl gestured with her hands as she spoke, as if her hands could tell the story better than words. "In theory, a jump of that kind would allow us to disappear and then reappear in the exact same location, just at a later point in time, from minutes to hours, but nothing too long, sort of like being hidden inside the jump. Truth is, we didn't even know if that's what would actually happen. It was supposed to be heavily tested before any people used it. I think what happened to me is that my shuttle jumped timelines, or maybe 'strands' is a better word. It's the only way to explain why Dr. Cottle is still here, and why none of you know me. This isn't my timeline."

Tigh whistled. "That's the craziest story I've heard in years. You expect us to believe that? Who sent you?" he probed.

As she smirked, Adama noticed that it looked familiar, but could not recall exactly from whom. "Do you have any better explanations?" she inquired.

"Miss Adama, you're gonna need to stay here until we know if you're a Cylon or not," Cottle relayed.

She faced him. "I understand, and I go by 'Vie,'" she replied.

_That'll probably be less conspicuous than calling her by her lat name_, the admiral reasoned. "We need to be getting back to CIC," he remarked, starting to leave as Tigh followed him.

Adama was deep in thought as they walked through the corridors. At last Tigh broke the silence. "You look like you could use a drink."

The admiral sighed and shook his head. "I've no idea what to make of this. Are we supposed to try to send her back?"

"Don't tell me that you actually believe her story," the colonel commented.

"Saul, there's something in my gut that tells me she's not lying," he responded.

"Gonna be interesting explaining this to the president," Tigh added.

"That's the only thing I'm sure of," Adama stated as they entered CIC.

He was not surprised when the phone rang. He made certain that the line was secure before he began. "Adama."

"Admiral, a shuttle just appeared and I've been hearing all sorts of rumors. You gonna tell me what's going on?" Roslin inquired.

He had to chuckle at her straight-forwardness, making sure that the line was secure. "It's one of the strangest things I've ever encountered. The shuttle had one passenger, a girl. It's too complicated to explain over the phone, but in short she claims to be from another timeline."

"Hmm, that sounds intriguing. I'd like to meet her. Can you have her brought to _Colonial One_?" Roslin asked.

"I can do that as soon as I prove she's not a Cylon," he mentioned. _And as soon as I find out if I'm really her father. It's ironic that I lose one daughter and another one just shows up_.

Later the admiral headed back to Life Station. Violet was sitting on the bed, arranging the bag that she had brought. He cleared his throat and she turned to face him immediately. "Yes sir?"

_I wonder if she does that every time someone clears his throat_. "Violet, why do you have a bag with you if, as you mentioned, you were just pushed into a shuttle?"

"We were given the order to abandon ship, so I grabbed a few things that I thought were important and headed down to the shuttle bay," she answered.

Cottle came out and walked over to them. "I haven't finished with the other DNA test quite yet, but from the first test, she's not a Cylon."

"Well no frakkin' duh," Adama heard Violet mutter. Then she looked up to face the two men. "That's good to know," she stated politely. _That was almost the kind of cover a politician uses_, he mused.

Cottle headed back toward a computer, analyzing the DNA sample. Adama faced the girl. "The president wants to meet you, so I'm going to escort you to Colonial One," he informed her.

She smiled a polite, guarded smile. "Alright," she replied, slipping off the bed and grabbing her bag.

Abruptly Cottle called out, "Holy frak!" and Adama craned his head in the direction of the doctor.

"Something wrong?" he questioned.

Cottle shook his head, noting that no one else was around. "According to the test, you're her father."

"In that case, we're going," the admiral replied.

The doctor watched the two leave and head down one of the corridors. "Thank the deities that he didn't ask who the mother is. He'd have a heart attack," Cottle whispered aloud.

Lighting on _Colonial One_ was brighter than it had been on Galactica. As they approached the president's office, Adama noticed that the light caught auburn highlights in the girl's hair that he had not seen before. "Those highlights natural?" he asked.

She smirked. "You told me I couldn't dye my hair until I was eighteen. Yes, they're natural. Mom has dark auburn hair, but I don't think she's in this timeline," he heard a hint of sadness in her voice, but she cleared her throat and held her head high.

"Are you nervous?" he asked after a minute.

"Not exactly. I'm just confused about everything. If I was nervous, I'd start giggling and then we'd have a problem," she conveyed with a wry grin.

_It's something in the way she smiles, or it's in her eyes. I just can't put my finger on it but I've seen it before_. Tory interrupted his chain of thoughts by coming through the door. "The president will see you now," the stated primly, looking Violet over as if she was carrying weapons. Then she cocked her head to one side and stared at the girl, as if looking for something.

When the aide stepped aside, Adama and Violet both raised an eyebrow and then looked at each other. The expression was the same and readable in both: _wow, is that one uptight? _Then he looked ahead and walked toward the president. The two adults greeted each other with "Madame President," and "Admiral." Violet seemed composed until the president stood up to shake her hand.

"Welcome on behalf of the Twelve Colonies. I'm President Laura Roslin and we're happy to have you as our guest," she greeted politely.

The admiral watched as a look of total shock passed over the girl's face, then an expression of joy, quickly covered by a mask of politeness as she put out her hand as well. "It's an honor to meet you, Madame President," she stated.

"Please have a seat," Roslin offered. She glanced over at Adama and nodded for him to do the same. Then she turned back to her guest. "Whom do I have the pleasure of meeting?"

The girl swallowed hard, still retaining her composure. "I am Violet Adama, daughter of Admiral Adama, but not in this timeline," she remarked.

Roslin leaned forward at her desk and folded her hands in front of her. Violet sat back in her chair and crossed one leg over the other, folding her hands in her lap. The admiral glanced from one to the other and the realization hit him like the proverbial tone of bricks. _They have the same green eyes. This was what Cottle found out. Laura's her mother, which means I'm married to her in another timeline. Apparently whatever strange twist of fate brought us to that point, at least it doesn't appear that we killed each other_, he pondered while rubbing the bridge of his nose.

Roslin raised an eyebrow at him, but then turned back to Violet. "Was your mother the admiral's first wife?" she inquired.

_Oh no, here it comes_, he thought. But Violet did not take the direction that he thought she would. "His first wife left him when Zack and Lee were boys. He moved when Zack started Kindergarten. My mother was Zack's Kindergarten teacher. They started dating when Zack went to First Grade. They've been married for nineteen years. The five of us were on _Galactica_ when the Cylons attacked, for the decommissioning ceremony. Mom brought her class there on a fieldtrip."

"Was she ever interested in politics?" Adama decided to ask.

Roslin looked at him over the top of her glasses, as if to ask: _Do you know something I don't?_ Violet had an answer. "She told me once that if she hadn't met Dad, she would've been in politics."

"Tell me, Miss Adama, how did you come to be here?" the older woman inquired.

"It's 'Violet' or 'Vie,'" she began. As she explained to Roslin what she had told Adama, she noticed a pen and a pad of paper on the older woman's desk. "May I use these?" she asked. The president nodded and watched with interest as the girl began to explain about timelines and drew how the engine worked. "What I can't figure out is how I ended up here. In order for me to actually jump timelines, some kind of shockwave would've had to run into me and throw off the magnetic field the engine generated. Let's see," she paused and sketched out the locations of several shuttles, Vipers, and also the Cylons. Then she drew _Galactica_ and added firing from all parties involved. "If I was here, then how did…" she trailed off and dropped the pen. Adama and Roslin noticed that all the color had drained from the girl's face.

She calmly looked up at Roslin. "Madame President, may I use your bathroom?"

"Certainly, it's just right over there," she indicated the direction and Violet disappeared.

"I wonder what happened," Adama commented.

Roslin picked up the drawing and raised an eyebrow, studying it. "Bill, something shook her up badly."

"I wonder if all teenage girls are this confusing," he grumbled.

She smirked. "What do you make of her?"

He ran his fingers through his hair. "I thought she was sane until a minute ago."

Then they heard Violet emptying the contents of her stomach. After that, they heard sniffing and then crying. "I suppose no one told her that the walls were thin," he commented, unsure of what to say and uncomfortable. "Maybe someone had better go check on her," he stated as he stood.

Roslin had been studying the pictures Violet had drawn and suddenly stood, grabbing Adama's wrist. "Give her another minute. I think I know what she figured out," she paused, showing him the picture. "The only thing big enough to create the kind of shock wave that she was talking about would have been _Galactica_. She's just realized that everyone she's ever known, in the way she's known them, is dead."

"Didn't we all face that when the Cylons attacked Caprica?" he mentioned.

"This is worse. Every record of her is gone too," the president added. They exchanged worried glances at hearing the girl's continued sobs and both headed toward the bathroom.

Roslin knocked and found the door to be only ajar. Violet was sitting on the floor with her knees up, hugging her knees with her face buried in her arms. At hearing the door open, she made an effort to stand up quickly and grabbed a tissue. Wiping her face, she tried to compose herself. "M-Madame President, I'm sorry about falling apart like this. It's just-"

The older woman placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. "You don't need to apologize to me. I figured out why you left from the picture."

_She needs something more for having to deal with such a huge loss_, Roslin thought. Slowly she pulled the girl into a hug, which tightened as the girl fought to keep from sobbing, but failed. _I wonder why she's this comfortable with a stranger_, the president pondered. Then she noticed Adama standing in the doorway. His eyes were on the reflection of them. She understood when Violet looked toward the mirror for a moment. Roslin had seen that look of desperation and sadness before.

"Who was your mother in your timeline?" she inquired.

"You were," the girl answered quietly.

Roslin held her for a few more minutes as she worked to compose herself. Then Violet slowly pulled away and took a deep breath. "I think I'll be alright, at least for a while. Thank you."

"Where will you be staying?" Roslin asked.

Violet's expression was blank for a moment. Then she glanced over at Adama. "I don't know," she said softly.

The admiral looked over at the president and then back to Violet. "We need a moment, if you don't mind," he mentioned. Violet nodded as Roslin left the bathroom and joined Adama back in her office.

He sighed heavily and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "I hadn't thought that far ahead," he admitted.

"She can stay with me for tonight, and then we can work out a more permanent arrangement tomorrow. You can't just stick her on one of the colony ships," Roslin pointed out.

"I wouldn't do that. I don't mean to push this on you, Laura. Until I sit down and figure out how to deal with this situation, I'm figuring on taking responsibility for her," Adama conveyed.

She smiled calmly. "You're not pushing anything on me since I offered. It's not like she's five; she's seventeen, Bill."

"Alright," he agreed with her.

Then they walked back to Violet. After having washed her face, she stepped out of the bathroom to face them. "You may stay with me tonight if you'd like," Roslin offered.

Violet smiled gratefully and picked up her bag. "Thank you, I'd like that." Then she faced the admiral. "I managed to grab my sweats before I had to leave. Can I go to the gym?"

Adama raised an eyebrow. "You know where it is?"

"Dad, I've known my way around _Galactica_ since I was five," she told him with a smirk.

He thought for a moment. "I don't want you running into any members of the press, so I'll walk you down there and come back for you later."

Violet knew that his statement left no room for negotiation. "That's fine, just let me change," she remarked, heading back to the bathroom.

"She probably figures that exercise will help her feel better. We'll talk more about this tomorrow," Roslin suggested to Adama before Violet returned.

"Today isn't over yet. I've no idea what trouble she could get herself into," he reminded the president.

"She knows her way around, so it should be fine," she tried to reassure him. When Violet returned, she and the admiral left for _Galactica_.

(A/N: The 'timeline' concept is actually derived from a theory that involves strands of fate that diverge when various decisions are made, resulting in different events and different outcomes, similar to the idea with the movie "Sliding Doors." 'Timeline' could also be called a dimension, a strand, or a universe.)

(My thanks to carolann, Jojo, zephyrchild, Phaser Lady, and Mariel3 for reviewing :D)


	3. Sister's keeper

Disclaimer: Battlestar Galactica belongs to Ronald D. Moore and the Sci-Fi channel. Violet Adama is mine.

Chapter 3: Sister's keeper

After Adama had dropped her off, Violet went straight over to the extra boxing gloves and headed to the punching bag, her hair reworked into a braid. As she continued her rounds, she occasionally looked around at the other people going in and out of the room. Then out of the corner of her eye she spotted Lee. A warm feeling of comfort at seeing a familiar face washed over her for a moment. He was walking over to the boxing area.

"Hey, I've never seen you around here before," he commented. "Aren't you a little young to be doing this?"

"I've been doing this for years," she retorted. "L-Major Adama, box with me."

He snorted and looked at her incredulously. "You're kidding, right? You're probably light enough for someone to send you across the room with a good punch."

She grinned at him and stepped closer. "Come on, my brother's your size. He and I box when we talk to each other. We basically try to block each other, and occasionally he lets me get through. Come on, I'm tougher than you think."

Chuckling, he shook his head at the slender 5'4'' teenager in front of him. Then he noticed that there was something familiar about her defiant, challenging attitude. _Reminds me of the president a little, _Lee mused. "I suppose I could help you with defense," he stated, putting his gloves on.

They practiced for a while, and he realized that she was not the amateur he had first taken her to be. She was quick on her feet and hit harder than he had expected her to. She also giggled at him when she dodged him, as if she knew him. As she blocked a few more punches from him, Adama decided to head over to the gym to check on the girl.

He glanced in the doorway and inhaled sharply. _I don't believe this kid. I leave her alone for an hour and she's boxing_. Entering the room quickly, he looked sharply at his children. She turned to see him enter and Lee took a shot at her, not realizing that she was too surprised by the admiral's arrival to block him. Doubling over for a moment, she wheezed a bit.

Lee looked at her with panic in his eyes. "I'm so sorry! I-"

She put one of her gloved hands up to stop him. "I'm alright, my guard was down. It's my fault, not yours," she stated.

Fortunately there were very few people in the area as Adama stood next to them and looked from one to the other. "What the hell is going on here?" he paused and faced Lee. "You, she's probably a third of your weight and half your size."

"Sir, she wanted me to… she was practicing defense-" Lee tried to defend himself.

"I don't care what you were practicing. You shouldn't be boxing with her," Adama retorted, attempting to keep his tone level.

"Dad, it was my fault and-" Violet started to say.

He faced her. "And you, small as you are, you should know better not to box with someone so much bigger than you!"

"But I-" she was going argue until she saw the firm resolve in Adama's eyes. "Yes, sir."

"Did she just call you, 'Dad'?" Lee interjected.

"Both of you, walk with me," the admiral said as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. As they began walking toward his quarters, he looked over at Violet, who walked between him and Lee. "Now tell him what you told me," Adama instructed.

She explained everything to the man who resembled her half-brother on the way to the admiral's quarters. "That's quite a story," Lee told her. "What happens now?" he directed the question more toward his father than her.

"Now we all eat dinner. I'll see if I can make something out of the algae," Adama remarked.

"Algae?" Violet inquired.

"Our food got contaminated, but we found some nutritional algae on the planet we're now orbiting," Adama explained.

"Want me to see if Roslin wants to join us for dinner? She might have more ideas for how to deal with this situation," Lee added.

Adama rubbed the bridge of his nose and sighed reluctantly. "Fine, I suppose it couldn't hurt."

A short while later, Cottle stopped by Adama's quarters. "This should cure her breathing problems after a while. Tell her to take one with breakfast and one with dinner," the doctor instructed, handing the admiral an orange pill container. Adama conveyed the information to Violet, who nodded and put the bottle in her bag.

Soon all four of them were at the dinner table, Roslin being surprised at the invitation, but glad to be included. After taking one of the pills Cottle had sent over, Violet watched as the others picked at the green pasty substance in the bowls, wrinkling their noses at it, but eventually brining the fork to their mouths. Watching the grimaces on their faces as they ate it caused her to shake her head and smirk. "This stuff looks frakkin' gross," she muttered to herself. "I'm thankful that we have something nutritious to eat, but it's bland, and it looks like swamp goop. May I please have the salt at least?"

They looked at her with raised eyebrows, and then back at their food. Roslin laughed first, then Adama joined her and Lee followed suit. She handed Violet the salt. "It doesn't look very appetizing, does it?"

"Not really, but give me some time and I might be able to make something descent out of it, besides engine grease," the girl remarked.

Lee and Violet went to chat in the living room while the president and the admiral volunteered to clean up. "She's got a great sense of humor," Roslin remarked, gathering the napkins.

Adama smiled. "It's a good thing to have," he paused, staring at the leftover rotting-lettuce-green algae. "I'm just not sure how to handle this situation."

The president smiled at him. "A friend of mine once said that you wake up one morning and you're parents. I don't think that she had this scenario in mind though."

He gathered up the plates, stacking them lightly and sighing. "She's going to need somewhere to go during the day. I can't just expect her to sit in a room all day," he grumbled. "I don't even know if she's finished secondary school." 

"I can find that out for you tonight. To keep her away from the press, she could even work on Colonial One for a while. Depending on her education, she might also be able to teach some things to the colonists' children," the president suggested as she moved the silverware into a small plastic wash tub.

"You don't have to do that," he stated.

She took a deep breath. "I want to."

"Laura, this isn't your problem. I'm taking responsibility for her," he expressed.

Placing her hands on the table, she leaned toward him and looked him square in the eyes. "Bill, you've got a ship and a fleet to run. I wouldn't be offering to help if I didn't want to or didn't think that I could. I'll probably have to explain all this to Tory, but I think considering that Violet has the most respect for the two of us, if both of us help her, things will work out better in the long run."

"Which there will be considering that we can't send her back," he added.

"I'm not even going to pretend that I understand how her engine works. It's an interesting idea, but I don't know if trying to use it ourselves would really do us any good," she remarked.

He nodded in agreement. "There's that, and I don't think we have the resources to test it decently either. We've got too many other things going on at the moment to worry about moving around time."

Roslin glanced into the living room, seeing Violet tell Lee about certain models of ships. "She seems to get along well with Lee," the president commented.

The admiral harrumphed. "I found them boxing today. Apparently in her timeline, they used to spare. Like her brothers, she takes on things too much bigger than she is. She's got such a tiny build that a good punch would probably knock her flat on her back," he pointed out.

"She likes a challenge. I think it runs in the family," Roslin relayed with a grin.

"Why do all my children end up doing things beyond their capabilities?" he asked as he put the glasses away.

She smirked and faced him. "That's because the 'Old Man' has a lot of legends and they're trying to keep up him."

He chuckled and pulled out a chair for her as they both sat down. "And what are some of those legends?"

"They say that the 'Old Man' is charmed by the gods to keep fighting past human strength, and that no matter how beat he looks, he can still fight," she answered with a wry grin.

"I hear the president has a few legends too. There's the one about her being a prophet leading us to earth, and there's also the one about her continuing to cheat death because the 'Old Man' needs somebody to goad him on in his life," he teased.

She laughed heartily. "You've been listening to the rumor mill again, Bill."

He raised an eyebrow. "There's a rumor mill?" he joked and rested one elbow on the table. "And what are they saying now?"

Leaning her elbow on the table as well, she leaned closer to him. "They say that the admiral and the president had a secret affair on New Caprica and that she goes to dinner in his quarters and he walks her back to share breakfast with her on _Colonial One_," she relayed with a glint of mischief in her eyes. _I don't think I would mind if that one was true_.

Chuckling again, he shook his head and looked away for a moment. _I wish that one was true_. He faced her again with a mischievous look of his own. "I heard that the president and the admiral had a love child that's being raised by strangers."

That comment sent her into a fit of giggles. "You know what they say, for every rumor there's a hint of truth," she remarked, looking toward the living room where Lee and Violet talked.

The admiral sighed heavily and ran his fingers through his hair. "I don't know how to explain her. If her ID card didn't have my last name, this wouldn't be so confusing."

"And then there's the fact that she looks more like me than you. She and I can't be in any pictures together," she mentioned.

"I think that it's best if I say she's my niece for now. That would at least clear up the last name problem. I have to explain to CIC why she was asking for 'Dad' and using my call sign. I'll tell them that she thought her father might work on Galactica in CIC, but that he was actually killed on Caprica during the initial attack," he commented.

Roslin stood and he followed suit. "Well, now that we're done with dinner, I think I'll take her back to _Colonial One_ with me now," she mentioned.

Adama was thinking back to the girl's ID card as he and the president walked into the living room. "Vie," he began, "What does the 'L' stand for on your ID card?"

She blushed. "My middle name's 'Laura.'"

Roslin approached the girl. "Are you ready to head over to _Colonial One_?"

Violet smiled politely. "Yes, just let me get my bag." When she returned, she looked at Lee. "Why didn't Zack join us for dinner? Does he work on another ship?"

Lee swallowed hard and glanced at his father. She looked over at Adama and cocked her head. The admiral walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Sit down, Vie," he began. When she had seated herself on the couch, he sat next to her and continued. "Zack died in a Viper accident a few years back. I'm sorry," he said gently.

The girl's eyes focused on the carpet and she sighed heavily, letting the reality of his words sink in. _Oh frak, why did I have to loose him twice in the same day? They're watching me wondering if I'm going to cry again_, she assessed. Taking a deep breath, she managed to compose herself behind a political reserve. "In my timeline Zack was going to be a pilot, but I talked him out of it because I could tell he wasn't getting it. He became an engineer and married Kara Thrace," she stopped talking when Lee made a face. "She's here, right?"

"Yes, but she never married my brother. Where she stands at the moment is complicated," Lee admitted briefly.

Violet looked over at Roslin. "I think I'd like to go now."

In actuality, the admiral and the president wondered if Violet was going to be sick again. She was silent all the way back to _Colonial One_. Roslin had a divider curtain and a makeshift bed for her. "Anything else you might need is probably in the bathroom. I might even have an extra hanger or two if you want to hang up your pajamas," the president mentioned.

The girl looked in her bag and then began laughing quietly. "I didn't bring any," she remarked. Then the laughter became sobs and she could not stop.

Roslin did the only thing she could think of and wrapped her arms around the girl protectively. "It's not a problem. We'll find you some," she stated, knowing that pajamas were not the real reason that her young guest was upset.

"It's not the pajamas," Violet choked, "I miss Zack. He was my protector when Lee teased me as we were growing up. Ever since we've been running from the Cylons, I've visited Zack to ask advice from him. And now he's not here."

The president continued to hold her in the embrace. "I know it's not fair, but those of us that are here would like to help you," she offered.

Violet then moved out of the hug. "Thank you, M-Madame President. I'm sorry that I'm so emotional. What you must think of me-"

"Is that you're coping with an enormous personal loss very well," Roslin finished. "Now I think that I have an extra long t-shirt that might work for you for tonight."

"Thank you," Violet managed.

(My thanks to carolann, Trinity Everett, zephyrchild, Mariel3, Jojo, Alesia G, and Phaser Lady for reviewing :D)


	4. Girl talk

Disclaimer: Battlestar Galactica belongs to Ronald D. Moore and the Sci-Fi channel. Violet Adama is mine.

Chapter 4: Girl talk

Wearing the t-shirt that Roslin had found her, Violet had already crawled under the covers of her make-shift bed, which was actually two seats with the armrests raised up and lots of blankets. Seeing the time as a good opportunity, Roslin decided to keep talking with the girl. She smirked at the idea that it was beginning to look like an old-fashioned slumber party.

"Violet, Bill told me that he's planning on calling you his niece so that the situation will not be quite so complicated for all of us," Roslin mentioned.

The girl noted her use of the admiral's first name. "I suppose that'll have to be acceptable. Should I just keep calling you 'Madame President'?"

"When it's just us, or when we are with your father- I mean… the admiral and family members, you can call me 'Laura' for now," _part of me wouldn't mind if you wanted to call me 'mom,' but it would cause too much confusing_.

_So using his first name happens on accident with you_, the girl assessed. Gathering up the blankets around her, Violet let a small smile slip through. "This all means that I should probably start calling him 'Uncle Bill,' but he'd probably still let me call him 'Dad' in private. And it's 'Vie,'" she reminded.

The president wandered to herself why Adama had not corrected Violet yet when she had continued to call him, 'Dad.' "I need to ask you a more personal question: did your mother ever have breast cancer?" Roslin inquired.

"Yes, and we almost lost her, but they used Cylon DNA to cure her. It was Baltar's idea. Nobody liked the guy much, but we've been short on medical staff. We almost lost Dad too. A Cylon shot him and it scared all of us," the girl replied, taking a breath and pausing in the memory.

"Similar things happened here," Roslin stated plainly, reaching out to squeeze the girl's hand for a moment.

Violet's green eyes studied Roslin's for a moment. "Why did you ask?"

"I had breast cancer and nearly died of it, but tissue from an unborn Cylon-human hybrid saved me. You need to be aware of what runs in your family so that you get regular checkups, especially when you're older," Roslin said quickly, seeming uncomfortable about having been saved from death by a Cylon.

"At least both of my parents are here, and someday you guys will end up at least dating each other," Violet commented.

Roslin sighed and faced the girl with one of her teacher expressions. "There is something that I want you to understand. I'm the president and I have the press to consider as well as the opinions of the colonists. He's the admiral and certain conflicts of interest could hurt how the fleet sees him," Roslin attempted to explain.

"I didn't say that you had to make a relationship public," Violet commented in a calm, but blunt way that reminded Roslin of the admiral.

The older woman smirked and shook her head. "You're young, you don't understand caution."

Violet sat back in the seat and folded her hand, watching Roslin as Adama had from time to time. "When you get older, you worry more about what other people think. If there was someone you really loved and you could separate how you deal with him personally and how you deal with him professionally, then a relationship could work."

_Good grief, she reminds me of Bill_. Roslin studied the girl and chuckled lightly. "You sound as though you know what you're talking about, but you're seventeen. Where did you learn to give advice from on relationships?" she probed in an easygoing, yet teacher-like way.

"I had two parents who gave me lots of advice over the years," she responded frankly.

The president thought for a moment. "Someone gave you 'the talk' right?"

Violet smirked. "Of course you did- I mean my mom did. She also gave the 'the talk' about not being physically involved with anyone before marriage."

A relieved smile crossed the president's face. _Had I remembered that, I wouldn't have been involved with Richard Adar_. "There is something I was wondering about," Roslin paused, placing her teacup on the rolling table behind her. "Did you leave any boyfriends behind? And how did you end up knowing an engineer who would simply push you into a shuttle instead of placing you with other people escaping?"

The girl blushed. "Jake, the guy who put me on the shuttle, was my boyfriend. We had only been dating for a couple of weeks though. I told Mom about him and she said that I had better things to do."

"Did your father know?" Roslin probed.

Violet shook her head adamantly. "No. I was planning on saying something eventually, but with a one brother working with him, one that boxes, and the admiral as my dad, I didn't want to scare Jake off."

"I see your point. Have you finished secondary school?" the president inquired.

"Yes, two months ago. I was going to be a teacher, like my mom. But then Caprica got attacked and plans changed. She helped me finish on my own, and Dad wanted me in CIC so I would learn other skills," Violet mentioned.

"When is your birthday?" the president continued.

"I'll be eighteen in ten months, on the third," she replied.

Roslin crossed her knees. "Your fa-I mean the admiral wants to find a place for you during the day that you have something to do here. One option is that you could work with the children of some of the colonists during the day. Another option for you is to help me with paperwork. What do you want to do?"

Violet sat cross-legged and thought for a moment, looking out at the stars. "I want to teach," she replied simply.

Roslin smiled kindly, noting that the girl's interest followed her own. "Is there any particular age level you'd like to work with?"

"I think I'd like to work with teenagers for now," Violet answered with a yawn. "It's time for bed, isn't it?"

The president nodded and patted Violet on the head. "Yes, it is. I'll make a few calls to the colony ships in the morning and see if they'd like an assistant."

Violet brightened. "Thanks. Goodnight, Madame Pre-Laura," she said with another yawn.

"Goodnight, Vie," Roslin almost whispered as she headed toward her own bed.

While Violet fell asleep almost instantly, Roslin was not so fortunate. Her mind kept her occupied, zeroing in on the girl who could have been her daughter. _I wonder if she's used to talking with her mother before going to sleep. Is this what it would be like to have a teenage daughter? Poor Bill, trying to take responsibility for something that was dumped in his lap. Why does he keep doing that? She's going to need more than just him though_, Roslin reasoned before finally succumbing to sleep.

While Violet took a morning shower, Roslin called in a few favors with the educators on the colony ships and then called for Tory. The aide arrived, wearing one of her usual business suites and looking ready for whatever would be asked of her. "Madame President," she greeted.

"Tory, have a seat," Roslin began. After her aide was sitting on the chair in front of her desk, she continued. "You are probably wondering who the young lady is that you saw Admiral Adama bring here yesterday."

"I had figured that he had some logical reason for bothering you with a teenager," Tory mentioned.

Roslin crossed her ankles and folded her hands on her desk, sighing. "That teenager is my daughter, but not from this timeline."

Tory's eyes widened. "But Madame President, you've never mentioned-"

Roslin put her hand up dismissively. "Technically she isn't my daughter; she just has my DNA. There was an engine accident when she jumped and she ended up in our universe. I think it's compared to a parallel universe, where different decisions were made that resulted in things happening differently for her. The point is that she looks like me because in her universe the admiral and I are her parents."

"Madame President, if anyone makes a connection of this sort between you two, the press will have a field day with-" Roslin interrupted Tory again.

"They won't find out because I will make an effort not to be in any pictures with her, and because her last name is 'Adama,' the admiral thought it best to pass her off as his niece from his brother who died on Caprica," Roslin explained.

Tory looked horrified. "But Madame President, they'll think that you had an affair with his brother!"

"Oh for Kobol's sake, we don't look that much alike!" the president exclaimed.

"And where do you intend to put her?" Tory pursued.

"As soon as she gets out of the shower, I'm sending her to one of the colony ships to act as a teacher's aide for a few classes. I would like you to accompany her," Roslin ended.

Tory's expression of impatience and frustration was not hidden well. "But why should either of you have anything to do with her if she is not technically your child?"

The president sat back and moved her glasses, rubbing her eyes. _Good grief, for someone who only pulls her hair back and wears a day uniform, she certainly takes a long time in the bathroom_. "For him, she has his last name on her ID card. For me, because if what the cancer did to my body, and the fact of time, she is the closest thing that I will ever see to a child of my own. She's seventeen and she still needs guidance," Roslin clarified.

"This is a bad idea and I would advise against it," Tory commented.

"Are you going to escort her over to the ship or not?" Roslin was done arguing.

The aide sighed resolutely. "Yes, Madame President."

Roslin phoned Adama to tell him where Violet would be for most of the day after the girl and Tory had left. Later on the shuttle, Violet watched Tory from her seat on their way to one of the colony ships, raising her eyebrow at the aide. The girl had crossed her ankles and folded her hands. Tory eyed her suspiciously. "Don't sit like that, you look too much like the president," she instructed.

Leaning her elbow on the armrest of the seat, Violet's mouth twitched and she sighed. "That makes you look like her too. You need to change how you sit and move. If the press puts the two of you together, it could be disastrous for her presidency," Tory pointed out primly.

She noticed a pen on the seat and sighed heavily as she began twiddling the pen between two of her fingers. "You can't do that either," the aide stated.

When Violet sat forward, slouching with her elbows on her thighs, she looked more like Adama. Meeting the aide's eyes, she spoke. "Did you choose to be here? Did you get to choose your job?" she questioned.

Tory swallowed, confused at the question. "Of course I chose to be here. Working with the president seemed to be the best use of my time."

"I didn't choose to be here. I came here by accident and I can't go back because everyone I've ever known is dead. I can't just shut off habits that I've had since I was a child. Since we first met, you've been staring at me, telling me off with 'the look.' I'm tired of you treating me like I have no right to talk to the president when she's fine with me," Violet paused and took a deep breath. "I know you don't like me, but that doesn't mean that we have to blatantly hate each other. We can be enemies, or we can be civil. Personally I'd prefer to be civil, unless you're not capable of it," she ended calmly.

The aide pursed her lips together, shocked at Violet's perceived audacity. However, she considered the girl's words before replying. "We ought to remain civil," no apology, just a flat truce.

Violet put her hand out, hoping that the other young woman would shake it. Tory did so reluctantly as the shuttle docked by the colony ship.

(My thanks to carolann, Jojo, Trinity Everett, and Mariel3 for reviews :D).


	5. Making adjustments

Disclaimer: Battlestar Galactica belongs to Ronald D. Moore and the Sci-Fi channel. Violet Adama is mine.

Chapter 5: Making adjustments

While Violet was heading toward a colony ship, Adama had arrived in CIC with the intention of clarifying the events of the previous day. The admiral stood in the middle of the room and faced everyone, noting that Tigh was also present. "You're probably wondering about the girl who showed up yesterday," he began.

"Damn straight," Tigh muttered.

"She contacted CIC because she thought that her father worked here. He was on Caprica when the initial attack occurred. I'm telling you this because she's my niece. I didn't recognize her voice because it's been ten years since I've spoken with my brother or his family," he explained.

Some of the officers raised their eyebrows while others seemed to shrug it off and go back to work. As Adama and Tigh returned to their own duties, the admiral wondered how Violet was doing. The size of the colony ships had surprised her, but she kept quiet as the ship docked, trying her best to say nothing to Tory.

Tory had similar ideas and silently walked Violet over to the make-shift classroom that she was supposed to help with. Previously a storage room, long tables were used as desks lined in rows and the one white board had been a lucky find. Foldable chairs held thirty-five students of varying ages between fourteen and eighteen. The teacher stood behind an actual desk that had been in the storage room under various extra electrical equipment.

"Mr. Bennick, I've brought your aide," Tory stated, noting that he had not begun to teach yet, but was taking role.

"Thanks, I'll take it from here, and please give the president my regards," said the man, motioning for Violet to walk to the front of the room.

Tory left with a nod and Violet politely extended her hand. "I like to be called 'Miss Violet,' by the students and thank you for this opportunity," she began with political politeness.

The young man shook her hand and studied her for a moment as they spoke quietly. "They're reviewing today. Maybe you could walk around and see if they have questions? I've been trying to teach math, history, and various sciences," the teacher mentioned.

"Alright," Violet stated as she began to patrol the rows.

He walked back to his place and addressed the class. "Everyone, we have a visitor who wants to work with us today. Since I'm testing you all tomorrow, you might want to review your notes. You can ask each other, provided that you keep the noise level at a minimum. Miss Violet is here to answer questions regarding your lessons. Perhaps some of you could also tell her what we've left off with," he advised.

Violet noticed a printed out schedule in one boy's folder and noted that Bennick's first name was Priam. _Somebody's parents liked mythology_, she mused. His brown-black hair was cut short and had a slight wave to it. Since he had not towered over her, she assumed him to be slightly shorter than six feet tall. His small onyx eyes swept the room, watching the class for raised hands, and occasionally his mustache twitched in amusement when he heard snatches of conversation from the students that were not part of the lesson.

To her own surprise, she knew the material well enough to answer most of their questions. Something even more interesting occurred when she encountered a teenager with a physics problem. "I can't get this equation to work," he complained.

She studied the problem and realized that it dealt with the velocity of space vessels. Borrowing his pencil, she found a blank sheet of paper in his scratch paper pile and began to draw the ship. "Sometimes drawing helps to understand things like this. You have your basic equation," she paused to write it, "and then you apply it to your picture. This is an application problem, where you're trying to figure out which ship is faster…" from his desk, Priam watched her with interest.

The student nodded as she concluded the explanation and was able to see his previous error. "Thanks," he told her.

"No problem," she replied with a half-smile.

She helped five other students with physics problems and a few others surrounding them looked up to listen as she explained the problems. When the students left for the day Violet walked back to the teacher. "How'd I do?" she asked.

He gave her a half-smile. "You seem to be pretty good at this stuff," he admitted.

"I always wanted to be a teacher," she relayed plainly.

Reaching into a drawer on his desk, Priam pulled out a few forms. "I need you to sign a few things if you'd like to continue being here, affidavits and stuff."

She nodded and accepted the forms, along with a pen that he handed her. Bent over his desk, she filled them out and he raised an eyebrow as he noticed her last name. "You related to the admiral?" he questioned.

"I'm his… niece," she managed.

"Why didn't you tell me your last name right off?" he inquired.

She looked up and realized that he was scrutinizing her. "I didn't want any privileges for it. If I stayed here, I wanted it to be for my own merit."

He continued talking to her as she filled out the other forms. "How did you get here?"

She hesitated in answering, trying to recall what she had been told to tell people. "I jumped here recently. My shuttle's navigation system blew out when we started this trip and it took forever to find the rest of the fleet."

"Your parents?"

"Killed on Caprica in the initial attack. I was on _Galactica_ for a school project when it happened."

"Why are you wearing a day uniform if you were just visiting?" he pointed out.

Her face colored as she scrambled for an answer. "I found it on the shuttle. What about you?"

"I was on _Galactica_," he answered simply with a smile.

She smirked at his evasive answer. "How did you end up teaching? I thought every able-bodied man ended up as a pilot, or something along those lines," Violet commented wryly.

Priam sighed and stepped out from behind his desk. "Technically that would be the case, and you were right for a while," He paused to pull up his right pant leg to reveal the metal of a prosthetic leg. "It's fake from the knee down," he admitted.

Violet's eyes noticed the cane finally and she put her hand over her mouth in embarrassment. _Oh frak, I am a total idiot._ "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have-"

"You did nothing wrong. I didn't say anything about it earlier for the same reason that you didn't say what your last name was. I don't want you to see me as any less of a person than you did when you first walked in, alright?" he interjected with a small smile.

Unfamiliar to the situation, she smiled back at him. "I guess if nothing else, I'll learn how not to put my foot in my mouth while I'm here."

He chuckled and shook his head. "I go by 'Priam.' I know it's a heck of a name, but blame my parents."

"It's not a name people can forget. And it's 'Vie,'" she conveyed. Her eyes drifted back to his leg and she hopped that he had not noticed.

"I'm not offended, you know. I'll even tell you about it sometime," he remarked, noticing her blush at having been caught. "We should really swap stories sometime. I'd like to know whom I'm talking to."

Violet crossed her arms. "I already told you-"

He looked straight into her eyes with a piercing gaze, but it was not harsh. "I don't doubt that you told me your real name, but what you fed me about your background was a bunch of bologna. You're a bad liar, and I'd know because I was the oldest of seven."

Despite how perplexed she was, she managed to only raise an eyebrow in an expression comparable to her father's reaction to surprises. The expression only deepened the mystery for Priam though. "Is that so?" another mirror reaction from her father.

He smirked. "You're hiding something, but you probably have your reasons, and I'm patient with most people. You do a good impression of the admiral. Will you be back tomorrow?"

"Of course," she answered with professionalism. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"You've got spunk, I'll give you that much," he looked past her to see Tory. "Looks like your parole officer came back," he added quietly.

Violet smirked, trying not to laugh. "She doesn't like me much, but we have agreed to be civil."

"Good afternoon then, and tomorrow I'll give you a few books and some students for a physics lesson after their tests," he relayed.

"Good afternoon, and thank you," she said before leaving with Tory.

The ride back to _Colonial One_ was silent. Figuring that Tory had nothing decent to say to her anyway, Violet did not mind. She headed straight for the president's make-shift office. "Madame President," she began, noticing that Roslin was alone, sitting at her desk.

Roslin was setting the telephone down as she noticed Violet. She stood and waved her in. "There isn't anyone else here, so it's 'Laura.' Come in, Vie. Tell me how your day went."

Violet sat in a chair in front of the desk and recounted her day, as well as saying that she would be returning tomorrow. "I really hope this works out. It'll be fun to teach applied physics, and they look like they want to learn."

Smiling, Roslin moved a few papers aside to reiterate that Violet had her full attention. "What did you think of Mr. Bennick?"

Taking a deep breath, Violet folded her hands in front of her. "He's going to be interesting to work with. He didn't buy my explanation about being the admiral's niece. It was like he could see right through me."

"I'm sorry, I forgot to warn you about that. Priam just called me though, and he's looking forward to working with you," Roslin relayed.

_She called him by his first name_, Violet observed. "So you knew him before today?"

"He was a student of mine a long time ago, and now he's a friend," the president answered.

Concern showed in Violet's eyes. "What if he figures out our secret?"

"He's not a Cylon, and I trust him. Whatever he learns won't be a problem," the president replied confidently, standing. "Would you like a glass of water?"

"That sounds good, thanks," Violet commented as she stood as well and made her way to the corner of the desk. Suddenly she felt slightly dizzy and put a hand out to rest it on the desk.

The room on _Colonial One_ melted into a dark-walled room with a black floor and no doors. A man sat on a rock in the middle of the room, looking at a 12-inch high wax candle as it burned, the only source of light in the room. Violet slowly crept over to the man, and then recognition set it. "Jake!" she exclaimed.

Carrot-orange curly hair on his head with a matching agouti and thoughtful blue eyes, he looked over at her and motioned for her to sit. As she did so, she glanced down at the blue day uniform she was wearing and noticed the mechanic's suit that he wore. "Nice you could finally show up, Stats," he stated.

She studied him and took a deep breath. "Jake, what is this place? You're dead, in both timelines. I'm so confused," she admitted.

He put a hand on her shoulder, but she felt nothing. "Hey Stats, beat the odds like you always do. You proved that everything we came up with was out of whack by ending up where you did. I'm not really here, of course, but I've got a message."

"From whom?" she questioned in a teacher-like fashion.

"From the Deities, who else? You will find your way here. The lady who looks like your mom in this time will understand. You have a destiny with these people and you were sent here by the Deities to help them," he paused to look over his shoulder. "Gotta split, Stats, you're where you're supposed to be and you couldn't have picked a better person to help you than that lady," he commented before the vision faded.

Suddenly the room was on Colonial One again and Violet stumbled against the desk. Roslin jumped up and immediately went over to her. "You saw something, didn't you?" she asked, worry edged in her voice.

The girl nodded. "I was talking to Jake."

"May I see your medication?" Roslin requested. Violet pulled the bottle out of her bag and handed it to her.

An examination of the label confirmed what she had suspected. Violet watched the older woman glare at the bottle in a way she recognized. _Mom gave one of my teachers a glare like that when I got detention for pushing another kid away from me after he hit me in fourth grade_. "Among other things, this contains chamalla extract. One of the side affects is hallucinations," Roslin told her, marching out of her office with the bottle in her hand.

"Madame Pres-Laura, where are you going?" Violet questioned.

Roslin turned back. "You stay here for a while. I need to speak with the doctor about what he's given you."

Violet stayed put while Roslin dashed over to _Galactica_. As quickly as she could with dignity and in her usual high-heeled shoes, she arrived at Life Station and sought out Cottle. He spun his chair around and stood as he heard her shoes click-clack on the metal floor. "Is there something you need, Laura?" He saw the irritation in her eyes and motioned for her to follow him. "Something tells me that you'll want to talk privately," he stated as he closed the door to the room he had led her to.

She held up the bottle of Violet's medication. "What in the deites' names do you think you're doing, giving my daughter chamalla?" her tone was deadly and Cottle realized two things: first, she did not mind calling the girl her daughter. Secondly, an angry mother was nothing to mess with.

He pulled out a cigarette and lit it. "Now it's not nearly the dosage I was giving you. The combination'll cure the girl," he tried to point out.

"I don't give a damn what the combination is supposed to do. I will not let her go through what I went through. She came by my office and we were talking when she hallucinated! You find a way to fix this. I will not have her taking chamalla and that is final," Roslin firmly articulated.

He sighed and crossed his arms, deciding to speak calmly. "I'll do what I can and see what I can used to substitute the chamalla," he responded.

"That's all I ask, thank you," she stated calmly before leaving.

"Holy frak, this is going to be one big mess. I don't think I've ever seen that gal so riled up like that. I just hope that Bill doesn't come in next and demand the same thing. Can't believe that the girl's causing this much trouble already," Cottle muttered as he headed to his shelves to look for any substitute herbs.

That night at dinner, Dee decided to bring Kara, Anders, and Dee with him, introducing everyone and their respective spouses. "Vie, you might as well meet the whole group," Lee stated.

"Lee, you know I can't stay long. I've got a shift in ten," Dee reminded. Violet noticed the glances exchanged between Lee and his wife.

_It looks like she wants to be as far away from here as possible. Boy, I've really been left in the dark on this one_. She introduced herself and then Dee was out of the room. Anders looked at his watch and groaned, turning to Kara.

"And I trying to track down someone to fix some of the door hinges where we all sleep. Because _Galactica's_ as old as it is, we're running into all kinds of problems these days. I have a curtain stretched across my quarters at the moment," Anders explained. He stood and then looked at Kara again. "What about you?"

Kara glanced at Violet and then back to Anders. _And these two aren't much better_, Violet thought before Kara spoke. "Unlike everyone else, when I'm invited to dinner I intend to stay. You see, I'm actually hungry," she remarked sardonically.

"Fine," Anders said as he exhaled and left the room.

Adama and Roslin were cooking dinner while Violet sat with Kara and Lee. "Bill, there is something you need to know," Roslin began as she added seasoning to some of the food. He looked up and waited for her to continue. "Violet came to visit me today and while I was talking to her she hallucinated."

He looked at her, wide-eyed. "Is she alright?" he questioned.

Roslin nodded. "She should be. I think it was caused by the medication that Cottle gave her for her breathing disease. It had chamalla in it, so I had a talk with him and cleared up the problem," the way she said it allowed Adama to wonder exactly how she had handled the situation.

"You chewed him out, didn't you?" he asked wryly.

She smiled back and threw her head back defiantly. "He was not going to give our daughter chamalla!"

The admiral knew that she had said almost the same thing to Cottle. "I'm sure he thought that was amusing. So you're taking ownership of her too?" the question was teasing, but she could sense that he did mean something by it.

Roslin grabbed one of the dinner dishes. "I guess so," she answered simply.

The three in the living room had continued conversing until the others brought the plates out. "So, is everyone always like that?" Violet inquired.

Lee turned to Kara and raised an eyebrow. She shrugged and they faced the girl. "It'd take a while to explain. Bottom line is things don't always pan out like you want them to," Kara explained simply.

Violet smirked, already feeling familiar with the captain. She had always felt more relaxed around the woman and was more likely to say what she was thinking. "No frakkin' duh. There are things you don't have to tell me," Violet stated as the three of them sat down at the table. "I guess the only way to actually make plans is to take things one day at a time."

Kara studied Violet as the girl sat with her hands folded in front of her. There was something familiar about the wry bluntness that she was capable of, as well as the kernel of insight. Violet raised an eyebrow to Kara's scrutiny and the captain snickered, realizing what she had seen.

"Holy frak, you're not really the Old Man's niece, are you?" she probed.

Instead of answering directly, Violet rested an elbow on the table and placed her chin on her fist. "Now why would you say that?" she challenged, smirking.

Violet in that simple gesture had clued Kara in to something else. Kara looked from her to Lee and started laughing. "No way, this is crazy. I can't believe what I'm seeing."

"And what would that be, Starbuck?" Adama asked as he and Roslin brought out the newest algae experiments: algae burgers and algae soup.

"Sir, do you really want to know?" Lee interjected.

"Oh, I think we all want to know now," Roslin responded.

She waited until everyone was seated and inspecting the food. "Sir, Ma'am, Vie here looks like she could be your daughter."

Instead of glaring at her or being shocked at her remark, they simply glanced over at Violet. "Why don't you explain the whole timeline mess, Vie," Adama suggested.

The girl told the captain the same thing she had told the others. When she had finished, Kara whistled. "That's a hell of a trip. Hey, if you need anything, come find me," she told Violet, giving her directions to her quarters, noticing that she was not staying with Anders. Then Kara faced Adama and Roslin with a smirk. "Looks like you two have some catching up to do. Here you've got a teenage daughter and you two aren't even married."

Violet recalled her conversation with Roslin and was about to tell Kara to forget it, but then she remembered that this was Kara and for some unknown reason, she had always been able to get away with saying whatever she wanted to. Roslin ended up chuckling at Violet's expression. "Captain Thrace, don't rub it in. We know this is an awkward situation and would appreciate your secrecy."

"Hey, no problem Madame President. And thanks for inviting me to dinner, Sir. I've gotta go," Kara commented as she stood. "Later Vie, and drop by any time. Anders might not have a door, but I do, so just knock." Violet had Kara laughing as she left because the girl raised her eyebrow like the admiral again.

"It's good to see that some people are the same, no matter what the timeline is," Violet remarked.

"Starbuck is Starbuck," Adama stated. Seeing that Violet had eaten all of her algae burger he asked, "So was the food better this time?"

The girl smiled. "Yes," she simply answered. "It's alright that Kara knows, right?"

"She's pretty much family, so she might as well know," Adama replied.

Lee watched as Violet nodded, but seemed to be thinking something over. "Anders sort of minds his own business and doesn't need to know. And for Dee, it would complicate some things and she's got enough on her plate," he mentioned.

The explanation seemed adequate to Violet and she did not want to pry too deeply into the matter. She helped clean up the meal before going back to _Colonial One_ with Roslin.

(My thanks to asouldreams, Mariel3, carolann, and Trinity Everett for reviewing :D)


	6. Fate's children

Disclaimer: Battlestar Galactica belongs to Ronald D. Moore and the Sci-Fi channel. Violet Adama and Priam Bennick are mine. Dream sequences are in _italics_.

Chapter 6: Fate's children

_Violet was walking through Galactica when the klaxons went off. Soldiers and civilians alike ran through the halls and she pressed herself up against the wall to keep from behind knocked down. Somehow she had made it to CIC and spotted the admiral. "This is Admiral Adama, everyone abandon ship. I repeat, everyone abandon ship!" he called out on the wireless._

_She glanced at the viewscreen and saw Cylon basestars attacking Galactica. At first she thought that it was a memory of what happened before. But then she noticed that the admiral did not have a mustache and the colonel had his eye patch. In a panic, she dashed back into the hallway._

_It was empty, but filled with smoke and fire. Coughing heavily, she tried to crawl underneath the smoke. A door blew out in front of her and a wave of fire blocked her path. Then Jake appeared in the flames. "You cannot let this happen, Stats," he told her before the dream ended._

She woke up coughing and moved herself to a sitting position as Roslin entered the room with a glass of water. Handing Violet the glass, she sat next to the girl. "Vie, are you alright?"

It took a while before Violet could answer as she downed the water. "No, I dreamed that the _Galactica_ of this timeline was attacked and I couldn't get out," she answered.

"You're safe now," the president tried to reassure her.

The girl shook her head. "Mom, there's more. Jake was there again and he told me, 'You cannot let this happen, Stats.'" Violet paused, realizing something. "I called you 'Mom,' didn't I? Sorry."

Roslin smiled warmly and gently moved a strand of hair behind the girl's ear. "It's alright, I really don't mind if 'Mom' slips out when it's just the two of us."

The girl nodded and proceeded with her next question. "Does that chamalla stuff stay in your system for a while and give you weird dreams?"

"Yes," Roslin told her with a sigh. "Why did Jake call you 'Stats'?" she inquired.

"He called me 'Stats' because I was always beating the odds in things. He even told me that I should be a test-pilot because I had a greater chance of surviving. I make my own odds," she replied frankly.

Roslin chuckled softly. _Like me, and like Bill, she sets a course different than the ones who've gone before her_. "Did you hear anything else that you think is important in your hallucination earlier, or in your dream?" Roslin inquired.

Violet set the empty glass down on the floor and eyed the older woman strangely. "Yes, but aren't they just from the chamalla?"

"You might actually be having visions. Who in your timeline found Kobol?" the president questioned.

The girl chewed her lip in thought for a moment. "My mom was having visions and when Dad showed her a map, she saw the actual city that used to be there. She said the visions were sent by the gods and that was all that anyone ever told me. Dad was skeptical at first, but Mom convinced him that it was worth looking into, especially after he got shot. The two of them spoke with the president, Bruce Alliard, and everyone went down together. The medics were furious with Dad because he left before they could finish treating him. One of them gave him a long lecture on how he wasn't being careful enough and how many medical supplies he used up. It wasn't his fault that he got shot."

"It seems that you had several problems with medical supplies," Roslin remarked.

Violet nodded. "We were short on supplies, but we were also short on doctors and people who knew what they were doing. What does this have to do with what I've been seeing?"

When Roslin sighed and folded her hands in front of her, Violet knew that what she said next would be important. "When Caprica was destroyed, I was told that I had breast cancer and six months to live. I was forty-third in a line of government officials for the presidency and I ended up with the job. The Pythia scrolls talk about a leader with a wasting disease. I was taking chamalla among other things for the cancer and I began having visions. I could also look at a map and see it differently, with regard to Kobol. Genetically we are related, and you might have similar abilities."

"Jake said that I had a destiny here and that you would understand what I was seeing," Violet added.

"And he might be right. I would like to know one thing though: how did you get the Arrow of Apollo?" Roslin probed.

"The museum on Caprica got robbed before the Cylons attacked and the guy who took some of the pieces was trying to sell them in a black market scam on _Galactica _and Kara caught him," Violet relayed, rubbing her eyes.

Roslin remembered that it was still the middle of the night. "Perhaps we should get back to sleep and talk about this in the morning?" she suggested.

Violet yawned and nodded. "I like that idea."

In the morning as Violet waited for the shuttle, she and Roslin discussed what she had seen in her hallucination and the dream. "He told me that I was where I am supposed to be, and that I had a destiny here," Violet relayed.

"I suppose we'll just have to be alert then. Tell me if you see anything else," Roslin advised.

Violet turned to see Tory in the doorway. "I will. See you later," she said as she stood.

"See you later, Vie," Roslin told her with a smile as the girl left with Tory.

Priam greeted Violet with a polite smile and handed her a stack of papers. "Would you mind passing out the tests when the students get here?"

"Sure," she responded.

After she had passed out the papers, the students took their tests and Priam showed Violet what she would be teaching while they waited for the students to finish. She collected the tests later and glanced over at him after placing the papers on his desk. "Miss Violet, the board is yours if you'd like to give us a physics lesson," he stated.

"Thank you, Mr. Bennick," she gave a nod of appreciation, much like Roslin, and stepped up to the board.

Her lesson went well and after she was finished, he taught a few of the other subjects. As the students filed out, she walked over to where he sat, already looking over their tests. "I pictured teaching a small group of them, but I think it went well."

"I wanted them to see you as another teacher first. Were you nervous at all?" he questioned.

"Actually I wasn't, but that's probably because I felt good about what I was teaching them. Meeting a few of them yesterday helped too," she responded. "Know who you're working with, know your material-"

"And smile," he finished. "Roslin said that a few times to me when I first started this classroom."

Violet had ended up sitting in his desk chair while he sat on the edge of his desk. "How old are you?" she inquired.

"I'm twenty-two. You look about seventeen, maybe eighteen," he observed.

She smirked. "You guessed it. I'm seventeen," she passed and glanced at the door, relieved that Tory had not shown up yet. "A friend of mine, Jake, used to tell me that I'd probably look older if I wore my hair down and a skirt, but what you see is one of the few things I own. It's not as if extra clothes are floating through space."

Priam chuckled and shook his head. "I like your sense of humor," he mentioned. Then she could almost see the wheels turning in his head. "Jake? You knew Jake Camaretti?" she realized her mistake and was not able to hide her expression of panic well enough. "He never mentioned you. We lost him on New Caprica."

He watched her carefully, as if interrogating her by just looking at her. "It's not the Jake you knew. I can't explain right now," she admitted.

Sighing heavily, he gave her a weary glance. "I want you to know that you can trust me. Maybe it would help if I told you my story."

"Priam, you really don't-"

"Vie, you don't even know what really happened on New Caprica, do you?" he paused and she shook her head. "Baltar had us settle on the planet and we thought the Cylons had left. After the Cylons came back there, some of us got involved with rebellion groups. I was using bombs and helping with prison breaks. On one of the runs I got surrounded by several of the metal ones. I knew that I had to distract them long enough for people to escape what we had set up earlier, so I started the bomb and set in on the ground. They had lost their weapons in a run-in with our people before they found me. While they tried to shut it off, I tried to escape. That thing took out forty Cylons and it only cost me half a leg. It took some getting used to, but I'm lucky to be alive," he explained.

Both sat in silence for a moment. Finally Violet looked up at him and reached back to her hair band. She pulled out the ponytail that she usually kept her hair in and spread it out. Then she stood and crossed her arms, smirking. "I can't tell you everything, but," she paused and picked up a set of lab goggles sitting on the far edge of the desk," this might add to who I am," she commented as she put them on to look at him over the top of them.

He blinked and cocked his head to one side. "You're not even going to tell me why you look like her, are you?"

She set the goggles down and pulled her hair back again. "I can't yet. You're gonna have to trust me on this one," she stated as she left, seeing Tory in the doorway.

That evening Violet and Adama were eating dinner with only each other. "The president couldn't join us this evening because she had a meeting with some of the delegates and Lee has a late shift today," the admiral explained as he brought out dinner.

They both picked at their algae quietly. Adama watched the girl and then looked down at his plate. She did the same right after him. Finally she broke the silence. "How was CIC today?"

"Nothing too exciting. We've just been watching the planet," he replied.

Once again the clanking of forks against dishware echoed through the room. "So… what did you do today?" he asked her.

She faced him. "I worked with one of the schools again."

"Doing what?" he pursued.

"They have me teaching physics for a while, the kind that applies to practical things like our ships," she explained.

"That's good," he mentioned, unsure of what to say next.

Since they had actually talked finally, Violet decided to keep a discussion going. "Dad, can you tell me what happened with New Caprica?"

He raised an eyebrow and then nodded. "I forgot that it didn't happen in your timeline," he paused and spoke again, looking past her. "Laura- I mean President Roslin lost the election to Gaius Baltar."

Violet almost choked on her algae. "That idiot? What were people thinking?"

Adama smiled. "Not much. What did he do in your timeline?"

"He's some sort of mad scientist who talks to this invisible person," she responded.

"Sounds like him alright. As I was saying, when he became president, instead of continuing to look for Earth, he had us settle on a planet after we fought the Cylons for it. About a year later they came back and attacked us. The battlestars had to regroup and leave for a while to form a strategy. We got the people off, but we lost the Pegasus. Tom Zarek was temporarily the president and then Laura Roslin was sworn in again," he recounted.

"In my timeline, Zarek got himself shot when he caused a riot on the prison ship," Violet relayed.

_It would serve him right_, Adama thought. "At the moment, he's the vice president," the admiral grumbled.

_From the way you said that, you'd probably be happy to throw him out an airlock_, Violet mused. "If you think he's dangerous, are you having him followed?"

Adama blinked in surprise at how well the girl seemed to read him. "No, he's still respected among various circles of colonists."

"You're probably short-handed anyway and you can't spare someone to risk following him," she rationalized.

He nodded in response and that was the end of their conversation as well as their meal. "Night, Dad," she said as they walked to the docking bay. Her smile by itself said that despite the awkwardness of dinner, she wanted to spend time with him.

Seeing that no one was around in the hallway, he smiled back before replying, "Night, Vie." Just before the shuttle arrived, she surprised him by throwing one arm around his waist for a quick hug. As he watched her leave that evening, Adama wondered how he was going to deal with the girl and resolved to see Roslin at some point during the following day.

Violet walked onto _Colonial One_ just in time to see Tory leave. The aide dealt the girl another glare, to which Violet simply shrugged and continued walking into the president's office. Roslin was putting the day's files off to the side as the girl walked into the room. She stood and walked over to her.

"Hello, Vie, how was your day?" Roslin inquired.

The girl smiled and accepted the hug that Roslin offered. "It was fine. Priam told me about his leg today and I taught a bit. The kids were interested and it was fun," she mentioned.

They walked over to the shuttle's seats and sat. "I'm glad to hear that you're enjoying yourself. You know," she paused to look the girl squarely in the eyes, "for Priam to trust you enough to tell you about something so personal, it means that knows you're mature enough to handle whatever comes your way, and it means that he considers you a friend. He called me again, asking me if I was related to you."

Violet put her hands to her mouth. "I can explain," she began.

"He's observant enough to see the resemblance, and I suspect that you may have helped him with that one. He didn't ask me in order to expose the family secret," the president paused and smiled mischievously. "The question actually slipped in. I told him that you would tell him when you were ready. He was actually calling to ask if he should retrieve you himself instead of having Tory bring you. You aren't getting along with her, are you?"

The girl shook her head. "She despises me, but we made a truce. I'll be alright riding with her as long as we never have to speak to each other," she relayed.

Roslin chuckled and shook her head. "I'm sorry about that," she commented. Violet shrugged and the president continued. "I'm sorry that I wasn't able to join you for dinner. How did it go?"

Violet looked away for a second as she undid her ponytail and ran her fingers through her hair. "I make him tense. We talked, but I think he's not quite sure what to make of me."

The older woman brushed the girl's hair with her hand. "Give him time. He's as delighted to have you as I am; he's just a bit shy about it."

"Dad, shy? Are we talking about the same Bill Adama?" she asked with a smirk.

"You're something new for him. He knows how to be a parent, but I think he's not sure how to be a parent to you," Roslin mentioned.

In the morning Violet rode over to the colony ship with Tory again. "I don't see why you cannot just go by yourself, but the president insists that someone escorts you places," the aide grumbled.

"You're the one who doesn't want me around the press," Violet remarked plainly.

Tory pursed her lips. "While that may be true, that may be true, this is still a waist of my time."

Violet raised an eyebrow. "Was there somewhere you needed to be today?"

"No," the aide stated curtly. That was the end of the conversation. Both were relieved when the ship docked.

Violet exited the ship and practically ran to the classroom. She glared behind her before greeting Priam. "Problems with the parole officer?" he teased.

"That's an understatement," she replied with a smirk.

"Did Roslin tell you that I offered to come and get you?" he reminded.

Violet put her hand up. "Thanks, but I need my daily exercise in frustration."

He shook his head and chuckled. "Most people get actual hobbies."

"This is a hobby," she remarked with a grin, gesturing around the classroom.

She was able to use the board again and taught physics to the group. After the students had left, she had a few questions. "Priam, do they get any literature classes, or is what we teach the main curriculum?"

"After they leave us, they have a few hours of literature and art," he explained. "How are you doing?" he probed.

She put on the political front. "I'm fine, thank you."

He scoffed. "That's bologna again. I'm giving you space on your background, but if we're going to work together, then I'd like honest answers from you," he commented.

Absorbing his words, she nodded slowly and walked around to the other side of the desk to put the lids on the extra whiteboard markers. "Alright, it's been an odd couple of days, I'm really not thrilled with the algae stuff we have to eat, and the family I have left is confusing," she admitted.

As he grinned wryly, he perused through a black zippered bag that he had brought with him. "Try this and if you like it, I'll bring you the recipe tomorrow," he told her as he brought out a small container and handed her a clean fork.

Upon opening the container, Violet noticed that the contents were green, but had several other ingredients that gave it orange and yellow colors. She took a bite and smiled. "This is great. What is it?"

"I found a way to make quiche out of the algae. My father was a gourmet chef," he explained.

While Violet had been working with Priam, Adama decided to take a lunch break and visit Roslin. The president looked up as he walked in. "Bill, when you called you sounded like you needed to talk. What's up?"

He handed her an algae sandwich and pulled out one for himself from the small black bag he was carrying. Even though this was almost the end of his bread, he had figured that he might as well share it with her. "Have you eaten lunch yet?" she shook her head and glanced at the sandwiches. "I decided that if I was going to take your time talking, I might as well bring you lunch too."

"Thank you," she said appreciatively.

They each took a few bites and then he began to talk. "I never had a teenage daughter to deal with before, and I'm at a loss. I don't know what to do with Violet. We had dinner last night, just the two of us, and I hardly knew what to say to her," he explained.

Roslin raised an eyebrow. "You usually have very good people skills."

He took another bite of his sandwich. "I know. Why am I having so much trouble relating to her?"

"Did you talk about anything?" Roslin asked.

"I told her about New Caprica and Baltar. Zarek came up too, but most of that was facts," he relayed.

Roslin put her sandwich down as she talked. "Bill, ask her about the school, about her teaching physics to the kids. Ask her about the teacher she's working with."

His eyes widened as he realized how little he knew about the girl. "You're right. I suppose I've just been nervous." Then he sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I've made mistakes with my sons; I don't want to make the same mistakes with my daughter."

Roslin stood and walked over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You won't because you learn from your mistakes. You might make new ones, but we all learn from them," she tried to reassure him.

"But it seems natural for you to get along with her like you do," he mentioned.

"You want what's best for her, and that's a start," Roslin pointed out. He stood and sighed, starting to pace. She took his hand so that he would look at her. "I know what's bothering you: you're worried that you won't live up to the father figure that she remembers. What's going on in your mind is in your eyes," Roslin remarked.

Adama sighed and studied her for a moment. "When did you learn to read me so well?"

She smirked. "It's been slow learning on my part, but it's worth it."

He smiled back. "Thank you for helping with Violet. You didn't have to let her stay with you and you didn't have to find her a job," he mentioned.

"Of course I 'didn't have to' do any of it, but I wanted to, Bill," she explained as she placed a hand on her shoulder. "I like having her around, and I want to be a part of her life too."

They hugged and then separated. "That's good to know."

Roslin looked away for a moment and chewed her bottom lip. He watched her, knowing that something was on her mind. "She's going to need a guardian because she's not eighteen yet," Roslin remarked.

"Yes, and I plan to sign the right papers to do that," he mentioned.

"But Bill, what if something happens to you? I was hoping that you'd let me be her guardian too," Roslin conveyed.

He watched her for a moment, scarcely believing that she could be that serious about the issue. "You're really willing to do that?"

"Yes," she stated confidently.

_I wonder what this means for the two of us. Would you be a bigger part in my life too?_ He reached out and cupped her cheek with his right hand. "Laura I…" but he did not know how to explain what was going through his head.

Her lively green eyes looked into his deep blue ones to discern his next move. Her breath caught in her throat as he leaned toward her. Their eyes slowly closed as their lips met for a gently kiss. It was similar to the one he had given her when she was dying, but there was more than tenderness and comfort this time. He pulled back only for a second as they shared wry grins. They shared a few more warm kisses, each one lasting slightly longer than the last.

Then the phone rang. They broke apart reluctantly and Roslin answered the phone before handing it to Adama. "I have to go back to CIC," he told her. He kissed her forehead and whispered, "See you tomorrow, Laura."

"You too, Bill," she returned as he pulled away and made his way toward the door. She watched him go and stared at the doorway long after he had left. _Oh deities, I'm falling in love with Bill Adama. How in the name of Kobol did that happen? Perhaps our other selves picked up on something that we decided not to notice_, Roslin mused.

Adama was having similar thoughts as he walked back to CIC after docking. _Have we lost our minds? Could I really be falling in love with Laura Roslin? When did this start? Good grief, maybe our other selves in Violet's timeline understood something we missed_, he reasoned as he stepped into CIC to resume his work.

(My thanks to carolann, Trinity Everett, Joj, asouldreams, Phaser Lady, and daydreamer for reviewing :D).


	7. Punch drunk

Disclaimer: Battlestar Galactica belongs to Ronald D. Moore and the Sci-Fi channel. Violet Adama and Priam Bennick are mine.

Chapter 7: Punch drunk

Roslin and Lee were unable to join Adama and Violet for dinner again, but this time the two had things to talk about. "So Vie, what did you do today?" Adama inquired, serving fried algae patties.

She took a few bites and became animated as she spoke. "I taught physics again. I've been using the whiteboard for diagrams and formulas and it's fun. How did your day go?" she pursued.

"It went as good as can be expected. We've got people exploring the new planet that we're orbiting, seeing if there might be anything else to eat down there," he mentioned. "Which teacher are you working with?"

There was a pause and she wondered how he would react. _Laura probably didn't tell him I wasn't working with a woman_. "His name is Priam Bennick and I think he used to be a pilot. He teaches math, history, and some of the other sciences," she explained, watching the admiral closely for his reaction.

He took a bite of his food and added more salt. "Bennick's a good man. He gave up a lot for the fleet, both on _Galactica_ and on New Caprica. It was a shame to lose him as a pilot. I know that Laura thinks very well of him, and so do I," Adama conveyed.

Violet did not hide her surprise. "You don't mind that I'm not working with a woman?"

Adama chuckled. "I'd probably mind if you were working with anyone else. I trust Bennick, partly because of his sense of honor and duty, and partly because Laura wouldn't send you to anyone questionable," he remarked.

_He's said her first name twice. I wonder if something changed_, Violet mused. "Remember when I told you about Jake Camaretti?" she questioned.

"Yes. You seemed almost nervous about saying his name to me. I'd almost forgotten about that," Adama replied.

Violet swallowed a few bites of food. "That's because in my timeline he was my boyfriend," she admitted.

He raised an eyebrow and she knew that she had surprised him. "He would probably be around twenty-four by now. Him I didn't know very well. Did I approve?"

"You… didn't know," she managed. "We had only started dating recently, and it wasn't much more than hanging out."

Sighing, he faced her and removed his glasses. "In that case I should probably lay down a couple of rules for you. One, no dating until you're eighteen. I should tell you not to date until you're thirty, but I know that one would never work," he paused and they both smirked. "Two, you're not dating anyone that we don't approve of. Is that fair?"

Violet let the ideas run through her mind and nodded with a satisfactory smile. "Yes sir. Wait a minute, who's 'we'?"

Adama took a gulp of water. "The president and I have decided that we would both like to help you. She's a good person to come to an educated conclusion with," he answered.

As the meal concluded, a plan formed in Violet's head that she decided to discuss with Lee. She and Adama said their goodnights again, this time with him hugging her first. As she stepped onboard Colonial One and sought out the president, Tom Zarek passed her in the hall, followed by Tory. Zarek stopped walking and stared at her.

"I don't think we've had the pleasure of meeting. Are you one of the president's advisors, or do you function as a secretary?" he questioned. She took in his suit and calm demeanor, but she kept her own stony reserve up because something about the man's smooth tone made her uncomfortable.

"I teach," was all she said.

He watched her with a harsh scrutiny for a second and she only raised an eyebrow. Then comprehension showed on his face as Tory came back to get him, realizing that he had not followed her. "You must be Adama's niece. I am Tom Zarek, Sagittarian representative," he mentioned, extending his hand.

She hesitated a moment before slowly extending her hand. "Mr. Zarek," she was coolly polite.

"Tell me about yourself, Miss Adama. How did you come to be here?" he questioned, watching her intently.

Keeping the reserve that her father had, she was careful with her answer. "I was running a shuttle mission and the navigation failed. I was only able to jump here recently."

"How did you survive all by yourself?" he drilled quietly.

"Well enough," she threw back.

He raised an eyebrow. "You're definitely an Adama," Zarek stated.

He would have questioned her further if Tory had not come back. "Don't waste your time with her. She's just a teacher in training," the aide informed him. He gave Violet a nod and left with Tory while Violet silently thanked as many deities as she could remember before heading in to see Roslin.

"Hi Laura," she called.

Roslin stood and the two hugged. "Hello Vie. Something tells me that you ran into Zarek on your way here," she observed.

Violet nodded. "There's something about him that I really don't like. Please tell me that you didn't talk to him by yourself."

The president smirked because the comment caused Violet to sound like the admiral again. "Tory was with me the entire time," she replied. "Other than meeting Zarek, how did your day go?"

"It went pretty well. Dinner with Dad was nice too," Violet answered.

Roslin smiled warmly. "I'm glad to hear it."

Violet had the feeling that she was missing something. "Something tells me that you knew it would."

"We… talked." The older woman looked away and blushed.

The girl watched her and smirked. "You two are very confusing. First you tell me not to put you two in a relationship, and then he lets your first name slip at dinner and you blush," she pointed out.

Roslin knew that the girl had her cornered and she sighed, deciding to go for the only escape she could think of. "Vie, this isn't a good time for a discussion of that sort. I have an early meeting tomorrow."

"You're just saying that so I'll let you off the hook," Violet remarked, chuckling softly.

"You sound like your father- I mean B- the admiral. Is it working?" Roslin asked with a smirk.

"This time, Mom," Violet acquiesced.

After the usual shuttle ride with Tory the following morning, Violet left the shuttle and wandered into the classroom. Priam glanced up at her from the book he had been reading and handed her a folded slip of paper. "Here's the recipe for the quiche."

She nodded and accepted it. "Thank you."

He thumbed through his history book, marking a few pages with extra scraps of paper that he kept on his desk, and then he turned to her. "You do know how to cook that, I hope."

Violet smirked and suddenly a glint of mischief came into her green eyes. She looked up at Priam with confidence. "Of course I know how to cook this. In fact, I think I'll offer to cook dinner for my family this evening."

He raised an eyebrow and gave her a wry grin. "Something tells me that you're planning more than dinner. Trying to set up some people?" he teased.

She laughed as she read over her lesson plan, dusting off a few empty folders that she planned to put her notes in. "Actually the thought only occurred to me a moment ago. You're getting ahead of yourself in trying to read me."

"Who said that I was trying to read you?" he asked with a smirk. "That look you had in your eyes a minute ago was screaming 'I've got an idea and I can't wait to try it out.' Remember, I was the oldest of seven and there are things I know."

As Violet moved her notes to the folders, she felt an all too familiar tickle in the back of her throat. _No, I thought that stuff that Doc Cottle gave me was supposed to help this. Oh this is bad timing_. "Well Mr. 'I can read minds,' do you have some water anywhere?"

He did not understand what was behind the frantic look in her eyes, only that she was holding something back. As he looked through his lunch bag, he heard her begin to cough. It was a dry cough, one that she was trying to hold at bay, but it was causing her nose to run.

She was gasping and still coughing as he found his water bottle. Without hesitation he handed it to her. She took a few sips and then a few more before she was in control of the coughing again. As she placed her hand against the desk, she thought _oh frak_ as the room shifted into an hallucination.

_CIC seemed calm at first, with everyone at consoles and the admiral standing by the president as the ship moved past the planet on the viewscreen. "Lieutenant, prepare to jump," Adama ordered._

_As the ship jumped to a new location, several Cylon baseships appeared on the viewscreen. "What are they doing here?" Roslin asked._

"_Sir, they just showed up," Gaeta relayed._

"_Damn, they must've known where we were going," Adama expressed._

_The baseships fired on Galactica and the ship shook with multiple impacts. Wiring fell loose, consoles hissed, and people were in a frenzy to put out fires. "Can we fire back at them?" Adama asked the crew._

"_We've been disabled," Tigh answered. "Bill, we can't even jump at the moment! If we don't do something soon, we're all dead!"_

_Adama sighed heavily and grabbed the wireless. "This is Admiral Adama, everyone abandon ship. I repeat, everyone abandon ship," his words seemed to echo in Violet's mind._

_She turned and saw Jake standing in front of her as everything else slowed down around her. "You cannot let this happen."_

"_You told me that already! What do you expect me to frakkin do about it?" she demanded._

"_Know where the Cylon is, the one with the human mate. Remember Stats, Cylons have copies. We've played this game before, so play it again. How does one ship know where the other ship is going? You can fix this, but you'll have to do it twice. Gotta split," he explained._

Suddenly the classroom came back into view. Priam's onyx eyes showed intense worry as he studied her, his hands on her shoulders. "What the heck was that? Are you alright?" he questioned.

"I have a breathing problem that's left me dust-sensitive among other things," she answered, trying to brush off more of an explanation.

"It was more than that. I'm debating whether or not to send you to Life Station. I've seen a lot of things with my siblings and with other people since we arrived here, but I've honestly never seen that before. You sounded like you were suffocation and then you just phased out," he conveyed.

She heard students heading to the classroom. "Priam, can we talk about this later?"

He nodded reluctantly. "Alright, but can you teach today?"

"I should be fine now, and thanks for the water," she replied before picking up a few files.

The lessons went smoothly and after Violet erased the board, she turned to Priam, knowing that she owed him an explanation. "Are you ready to explain?" he probed.

She sat down in the desk chair while he sat on the desk again. "Dr. Cottle gave me some medication for my breathing problem and one of the side affects was hallucinations. I should be getting new medication soon, but I guess the old stuff is still affecting me," she began.

Priam ran a hand through his hair. "What are they giving you that makes you hallucinate?"

"Chamalla," she answered quietly.

"Holy Lords of Kobol, that stuff's dangerous!" he remarked.

"Which is why Roslin decided to talk to the doctor and get my medication changed," Violet responded.

"And how many days have you been off it?" Priam pursued.

She thought for a moment. "I think this might be the second day."

He studied her, the worry still present in his eyes. "How elaborate are these hallucinations?" he inquired.

"I keep seeing _Galactica_ in danger and someone I know to be dead shows up and tells me about it," she answered, deciding to tell him the truth.

Rubbing his chin with his index finger, he stepped over to the board and to the wall before facing her again. "Sounds more like a vision to me. I'm not the strongest believer in the Pythian scrolls, but Roslin supposedly had visions regarding the tomb of Athena. Have you been talking to her about…" as he continued to watch Violet, he trailed off.

"Yes?" she urged, balancing her chin on her fist as her elbow rested on the desk.

"Somehow you and Roslin are related, and there's a connection between what she saw, and what you are seeing," Priam realized.

Violet spotted Tory coming and stood quickly. "It's a long story, but I'll explain later."

He nodded. "Parole officer's back?"

"Yes," she stated flatly.

Tory took Violet back to _Galactica_ because the president was busy with meetings, allowing violet to grab her bag. Violet decided to head to the gym for a while, wanting to tell Roslin about her hallucination, or vision later. As she was practicing her boxing skills, she noticed Lee and rushed over to him.

He held up a hand. "No Vie, I am not boxing with you," he told her.

"It wasn't about that," she informed him.

"Alright, what then?" he questioned.

"Listen, I have a terrific idea," Violet told him as she caught up with him.

He raised an eyebrow and studied her. "Something tells me that I should be worried."

She removed the slip of paper from her pocket. "This is a recipe for making quiche out of the algae stuff. I know how to cook and can make this. I'll make four helpings of it, but you and I will leave dinner early."

Lee eyed her with suspicion. "Why?"

"It would be the perfect set-up for the admiral and the president," she whispered.

"Holy frak! Do you realize how much trouble you could get us into? And because I'm older, they're going to blame me if they find out about this!" he argued.

She shook her head. "We'll make it look like you had something you wanted to show me and we'll both leave. They won't suspect a thing," she relayed with confidence.

Lee weighed it over in his mind for a while and finally decided that the end might justify the means. His father and the president seemed to be getting along well and maybe at the very least, a private dinner would put them both at ease after what they had been through lately. "Alright, I'll help you," he conceded.

All the admiral and the president knew what that Violet had volunteered to cook dinner. The two admired her efforts as the four of them sat around the dinner table. Roslin took a bite and smiled over at the girl. "Vie, this is excellent. How did you learn to do this?"

"Priam gave me the recipe," Violet relayed.

Lee looked worried, surprised that she had admitted to consorting with a male who was not a relative. He knew that Priam's character was trustworthy, but he was not sure how his father would react. Adama took a bite and smiled. "So he's not only a good man, but also a good cook."

"Dad, you don't mind that she's spending a lot of time with a guy?" Lee probed.

Adama chuckled. "If it were anyone else, I would, but I trust Bennick."

Violet lightly elbowed Lee and he looked at his watch. "Dad, I promised to show Vie a few things and I thought that she and I would just take dinner with us," he said abruptly.

The admiral raised and eyebrow and glanced at Roslin. She shrugged and he faced the other two. "I suppose you two can go," he relayed.

Before they left with their food, Violet brought out a bowl of punch from the kitchen. "I'm sorry, I almost forgot about this. I used a bit from several fruit juices. You two can have some if you want and we'll have ours when we get back," she mentioned.

Lee raised an eyebrow as it to say _'What's going on now?'_ but neither Adama nor Roslin noticed. When the two younger people left, the president and the admiral sat across from each other and sampled the punch.

"This is great. I had no idea that she knew how to do all this," Roslin remarked.

"It is good. I wonder though why they both had to leave," Adama commented.

She sighed with contentment and smiled at him. "I don't know either, but it's nice to have an evening to ourselves."

Seeing the candlelight reflected in here eyes made him realize that there were candles on the table. Somehow by looking at her, he had noticed little else. He reached out and the hand that she was not eating with in his. "We didn't talk about yesterday. Our discussion helped me to have a good dinner with Violet. But where is it going for us?"

Having finished her quiche, she gave him a warm smile. "I hope it means more moments like this," she almost whispered.

After having a total of three cups of punch each, they jumped hearing his music player turn on. "Someone must've set the alarm to music instead of the beeping," he remarked.

As they listened to the song, it reminded them of the day on New Caprica they had spent together before the Cylons arrived. Though it was one of the livelier old folk songs, Roslin felt like relishing in it. She stood and offered a hand to him. "Dance with me, Bill," she urged.

He remembered the song also, as well as the part where the dancer is passed from person to person. "You have nobody to change partners with," he pointed out as he rose to his feet.

She smirked and took another gulp of the punch. "What if I don't want to change partners?"

He needed no further encouragement to dance with her. When she laughed, it filled the room as they spun around his living room. As they stopped dancing, she grinned at him and blinked at him flirtatiously, looking like some sort of mythical wood sprite, as she had on New Caprica when she told him about the stream and wanting to build a cabin. They continued to hold each other's arms, neither actually wanting to move.

They leaned toward each other and kissed lightly once, twice, as if teasing each other. Somehow her arms found there ware around his neck and his wrapped themselves around her waist. Their lips met with fervor as they kissed ardently. When they broke the kiss to breathe, both had looks of confusion on their faces.

"This seems a little too fast. What are we doing?" Roslin asked breathlessly.

Adama took a deep breath. "It seems that we've been fighting what we felt on New Caprica." He headed over to the punch and poured them each another glass. As they downed the liquid, he found himself staring at her again.

She looked back at him and slowly closed her eyes for a moment, opening them to a sudden realization. "Bill, I know what's wrong. This," she gestured toward the punch bowl, "isn't punch. Someone must have spiked it. We didn't notice because of all the other flavors in it."

He put his cup down on the table and sighed. "That explains a lot. It means that someone set us up. We had music that was on a timer, a very good dinner, and probably a good amount of alcohol."

"We're going to have to talk to them, you know," she added.

"It wasn't a bad plan, really. I would think that Lee would know better though," he said chuckling. "Now that we know, what do we do about them?"

Roslin smiled mischievously and he rethought his question. "I have an idea. Since they decided to set us up, why don't we allow them to think for a while that their plan worked?"

His hand moved to his chin. "And you do you propose we do that? Should we be dancing around the room when they get back?"

She shook her head. "I've got something better. It would be a harmless prank, as simple as leaving a few articles of clothing here and there, and hiding when they return," she clarified, tossing her jacket behind her.

"So you want them to think that their plan worked too well?" he inquired.

"Exactly," she replied as she removed her shoes, encouraging him to do the same, throwing couch pillows around and spreading out the paperwork that had been neatly stacked on the desk.

He unbuttoned his jacket and she raised an eyebrow as he handed it to her. "We have to make this look good if we want to pull off your prank. Now throw it somewhere," he suggested.

"I can't wait to see their faces when we tell them that we caught on to their little scheme," she commented. As if she had removed it herself, she tossed his jacket behind her lazily. Then they looked around at the semi-disarrayed state of the living room.

"Something's still missing," he mentioned, now in his undershirts.

She glanced down at her clothes and then smirked. "I have one last idea," she told him as she unzipped her black skirt. "Don't worry, I've got a heavy black slip on underneath," she answered his dumbstruck expression.

Flinging her skirt over his desk, she surveyed their efforts with a satisfied grin. He met her gaze and chuckled. "Does this plan look a little crazy to you?" he reasoned.

Crossing her arms in front of her, she answered, "It's no worse than theirs was."

They heard footsteps and he took her hand. "I think that's them. We need to hide,"

he relayed as they headed toward his bedroom.

He watched as she covered her mouth to muffle her giggling. "This will be hilarious! And cannot believe that they tried to set us up," she managed.

Adama grinned as he watched her green eyes dance with mischief. "I'll bet you anything that it was Violet's idea and she didn't tell Lee about the punch. He has his moments, but this isn't his style," the admiral mentioned.

"I wonder whom she inherits her mischief from," Roslin mused with a smirk.

"Since this prank was your idea, she probably got most of it from you," he teased as he reached past her shoulder to dim the lights. "If we want this to look authentic, they can't see a light in the bedroom."

The room darkened, however, he had yet to move away from her. His right hand ended up on her left shoulder. She took a step closer to him and put both of her hands on his chest. His left arm encircled her waist. As her hands slid up to link behind his neck, he kissed her gently. She kissed him back and something neither could name switched on as he pulled her closer and they kissed passionately. She moaned softly as he deepened the kiss. They pulled back to breath and she kissed him deeply. Their hands had begun to wander a bit when he broke the kiss and rested his forehead against hers.

"I thought this was supposed to be a prank," she whispered as she caught her breath again.

"It was. Maybe we've had a little too much to drink," he responded.

They untangled themselves from each other and she nodded. "Yes, it was probably too much to drink," she stated as she heard the others enter the living room.

Lee took one look around the living room and his eyes traveled to the punch. "Vie, they are gonna kill each other in the morning when they wake up and find out what we did!" he complained. "And then they'll come after us!"

Violet smirked and turned to him with a satisfied sigh. "I think they'll be happier now. They would've ended up there anyway, we just gave them a push."

The young man groaned and ran a hand through his hair. "You're gonna get me killed with ideas like this."

"You don't need to worry about it, Lee," Adama relayed as he and Roslin emerged from the bedroom.

"I- but- she…" Lee tried to articulate.

"Boy, we certainly fooled you two," Roslin said with a grin.

Violet glanced at the clothing and the shoes again. "So you two planned this?" she asked incredulously.

Roslin began to giggle. "It was interesting to figure out the best places for the shoes," she mentioned. Then she picked up her skirt and faced Adama. "May I use your bathroom, Admiral?"

"Of course, Madame President," he replied. As she left the room, he turned back to his children. "Lucky for you two, we found this very funny. However, don't you two try this again. And Vie, where did you get the alcohol to make the punch?"

Violet blushed in embarrassment at being caught. "I found a bottle of clear stuff near the Ambrosia in the kitchen."

Adama rubbed the bridge of his nose and sighed heavily. "How much did you use?"

"About a third," she admitted.

"That was a bottle of moonshine that Starbuck gave me. She told me to make sure I "dragged somebody off with me to drink it" and then she told me to have a good time," he relayed, chuckling.

Roslin giggled. "I wonder what she's say if you told her that you finally did?"

It was becoming clear how intoxicated the admiral and the president had gotten themselves as they continued laughing. "I'd probably have to pry her jaw off the deck!"

They ended up sitting next to each other on the couch, laughing at whatever came to mind. Lee and Violet decided to clean up. "Your plan didn't work. They set us up for a prank instead," Lee pointed out as he and Violet washed the dishes from dinner.

She smirked. "Yes it did, just not the way we planned. They still worked together, even if it was to trick us."

(A/N: I feel I should warn you that the next chapter will have more angst. My thanks to carolann, asouldreams, Trinity Everett, derevkobristow-spawn, Mariel3, and Phaser Lady for reviewing :D)


	8. Into the fire

Disclaimer: Battlestar Galactica belongs to Ronald D. Moore and the Sci-Fi channel. Violet Adama and Priam Bennick are mine. Spoilers for the episodes "Eye of Jupiter" and "Rapture" are marked /like this/.

Chapter 8: Into the fire

The president and Violet walked to _Colonial One_ as soon as she could stop laughing. They talked again before going to bed. "I know that was your idea," the president stated, regarding dinner.

"Was it a total loss?" Violet inquired, giving her a half-smile.

The older woman crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. "I wouldn't say that, but a president doesn't have to explain herself."

Violet looked at her incredulously. "Did you make that up?" she asked with a smirk.

"Actually the last president passed that pearl of wisdom on to me," Roslin relayed.

"I hallucinated again," Violet blurted out.

Roslin studied her. "What happened?" Violet recounted it and the president sighed, feeling sleepy from the affects of the alcohol. "Just be careful and stay alert," she suggested. Violet nodded and the two went to sleep.

The next day was a weekly day off for the students, so Violet decided to look over more lessons in Adama's quarters. He and the president were busy with a recent discovery made on the planet below. /Unfortunately the Cylons decided to intervene and four baseships appeared, wanting what was to become the Eye of Jupiter as well, forcing a negotiation point./

/"I can't believe were dealing with a Cylon ship," Adama grumbled as he and Roslin waited in the cargo bay with the guards standing by./

/"I can't believe they're sending Gaius Baltar," she added almost wryly./

/"Let him say whatever he wants, more time to get our people off the planet," Adama remarked as the Cylons entered with Baltar./

/Baltar had grown a beard and looked more to the others like a man who had been in prison for a long time. He looked from Roslin to Adama. "It's good to see you," he uttered./

/Roslin crossed her arms and gave him the political cold shoulder. "What do you want?"/

Number Three spoke. /"We want the Eye of Jupiter and we know you have people on the ground."/

/"We have our people on the surface, we're not leaving them behind,"/ Adama articulated.

/Baltar chimed in. "I would like to discuss the practicality-"

/Roslin cut him off. "The less this man says, the better," she expressed. The next part of the discussion would proceed without the president. Before leaving, she walked over to the admiral. "I'll give you a hand with this, Bill, if you need it let me know."/

/As she left, the admiral faced the Cylons again. "What's your offer?" he questioned./

Number Three smirked at Baltar and then faced Adama. /"If you give us the Eye, we will let you go. We'll even throw in Baltar."/

/"Worth thinking about," Tigh muttered./

/"Definitely worth thinking about," Adama stated. Then he turned back to the Cylons. And spoke firmly. "I'm setting the terms now, make any attempt to attack this ship or the people, I'll nuke it, lay waist to an entire continent."/

/The guards escorted the Cylons back to their ship and Adama went to talk the situation over with Roslin in his office while Violet had gone to the gym for a while./ "I can't believe that they think we would actually want Baltar back after what he did," she commented.

"There are probably several people who wouldn't mind trying to assassinate him," Adama added.

"Do we even know what the Eye of Jupiter is? I'm planning on going over the scrolls again," she mentioned.

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. /"All we know for sure is it supposedly points the way to earth."/

She tried to rub the stress out of her neck. "I wish that we had more time to explore it. This whole situation has become one big frakking mess," she conveyed.

"You're telling me. /I'm not a religious person as we both know, so if this is the work of a higher power, then they have one hell of a sense of humor,"/ he remarked with a wry grin.

Sitting at his desk, she folded her hands in front of her and looked at him with seriousness reflected in her eyes. "Bill, you might not be a religious person, but your daughter is. She had another hallucination and I think there might be more to it than that. She might be having visions," Roslin informed him.

He sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "You could be right, but I need to deal with the Cylons before I deal with something like that."

"And I intend to help you," she chimed in. He soon left the office to see a few officers and get a few more perspectives on their situation. However, what he did not expect to find was a Number Eight with some interesting information for him.

/Adama reentered the room and found Roslin scanning a few books. "I can't find much mentioned about the temple, five pillars of the-"/

/His face did not show it, but he looked at her sadly. "Laura," he interrupted her and she looked up to face him. "The Cylon we know as Boomer told Sharon that Hera is still alive./ What's going on?"

She took a deep breath and stood to face him. "I saw the child as a threat and wanted my aide, Maya, to look after her. I thought it was dangerous to have Sharon raise her because we don't know anything about hybrids it I was worried that she would raise the child to favor the Cylons."

He glared at her. "So that's it? You made yourself high supreme authority on whether or not they could keep their child? Now she's with the Cylons!" he pointed out.

Closing her eyes in shame for a moment as she swallowed, she faced him again. "A fact which I greatly lament."

"She would have been a hell of a lot better off with her parents!" he spat, hitting the desk. _How could you do this? How could you make such a cold-hearted decision? I thought that you had better judgment than that_.

Roslin looked at the floor and ran a hand through her hair. "It was a bad decision on my part," she admitted quietly.

"It was a decision that you know damned well should have been discussed with me! I thought we agreed to no more secrets!" he lectured.

Her eyes were pensive as she tried to meet his. "I guess I really frakked this one up."

"I won't argue with you there," he stated sardonically. "What you did was inappropriate and immoral. I know that somewhere you have compassion, but I'm beginning to think that anything of that sort got left on New Caprica! What if it was you? What if it was Violet?"

Roslin swallowed hard and a few tears slid down her cheeks. "A president doesn't have to explain herself to anyone," she commented, her voice not yet cracking.

Adama stared at her as if she had admitted to being a Cylon. "Well that's just frakking convenient, isn't it? What you've shown me is that the last three and a half years don't mean anything to you, that you don't trust me and that I sure as hell shouldn't trust you," he growled.

/He turned his back to her and moved toward the door. "Bill, I-"/

"I'm going to talk to Athena. I'm doing the right thing, for both of us," he said without looking at her.

She trotted over to him. "Wait, we should-"

He was not willing to let her get a word in edgewise. "I'm through with the lies," he told her as he faced her. Adama had returned to his stony reserve. The only indication that he felt anything was the contempt Roslin could see in his eyes. In a moment of anger, he said what he knew would wound her. "I'm disappointed in you," it was said quietly. As he left, she placed her face in her hands and sobbed. _I just lost one of the few things in my life that meant something. I am such an idiot. He's never going to trust me again._

Roslin headed for CIC after Adama called her because the Cylons threatened an attack. /She looked over at the monitors. "Fortunately we are bluffing," she remarked./

/"Are we?" Adama added as he told the crew to prepare to send the nuclear weapons./

/Gaeta looked over at the admiral. "Missiles are loaded, sir."/

/Adama nodded. "Open launch tube doors."/

/Roslin's eyes opened wide. "What are you doing?"/

/"Getting ready to nuke the planet," the admiral instructed, not looking at her. "Set ground zero at the underground structure."/

/The president had a bad feeling about the idea in the pit of her stomach, but then she remembered one more thing. "Are we prepared to sacrifice Lee?"/

/He would not answer her. _Oh no, he's really going to go through with this_, she realized. She understood why though, and what the danger would be if the Cylons found the thirteenth colony. He looked over at her and she nodded. "Release nuclear weapons is now authorized," he told CIC./

Violet chose that moment to enter CIC, having heard alarms from the gym and wanting to know what was going on. "D-Admiral, what's going on here? Are we firing on the planet? Frak, Lee's down there! You can't just-"

"Madame President, please get her out of here," Adama requested, not taking his eyes off of the screen.

Roslin nodded. "Come on, Violet," she attempted to coax the girl, touching her shoulder to turn her toward the door.

Violet's feet were firmly planted and she continued to look at the admiral. "No, I'm not leaving. What the frak is going on here?" she demanded in near hysterics.

He rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Laura, I don't have time for this. Get her out of here," he ordered evenly.

Roslin gave a quick nod and looked Violet directly in the eyes, over the top of her glasses. "Young lady, not another word," she said, using what most would call a maternal tone.

The girl sighed reluctantly and they began walking out of CIC. "I'll be right back," Roslin conveyed to Adama. When she and the girl had stepped out into the corridor, the president looked directly into her eyes again. "I won't lie to you; this is a dangerous situation, too dangerous for you to be involved. I'm sorry that we're being short with you, but you need to go back to your father's quarters and stay there until you hear otherwise. Is that understood?"

Violet nodded slowly and replied, "Yes, Mom, and I'm sorry I was rude." She paused before heading off. "What's going to happen to Lee?" she asked quietly.

Roslin pulled her into a hug. "I don't know, Vie, I just don't know." They parted and as the girl left for Adama's quarters, Roslin dashed back to CIC.

Violet entered the admiral's quarters to hear the phone ringing. She picked it up and was stunned to hear Priam's voice. "Vie? Are you alright?"

"Yes, for the most part. Why are you calling me, and how did you know to call here?" she questioned.

"With all the alarms going off here, I figured that I should see if you were alright. I actually tried calling _Colonial One_ first."

She smirked. _I guess he was really worried_. "Are you on _Galactica_?"

"My quarters are on _Galactica_," he then mentioned where they were located.

"Priam, I got kicked out of CIC. Do you know what's going on?"

He heard the distress in her voice. "From what I've overheard, our people on the planet found something called the Eye of Jupiter. The Cylons showed up and they want it too. Both sides are willing to kill for it."

Her voice was shaky. "Lee's down there, Priam, and the admiral's got nukes pointed at the planet."

"Vie, listen to me. I've known him, and the president, for a long time and you've got to trust that they know what they're doing. Can you handle that?"

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment. "Alright."

"Why don't you stop by later? I've been looking over tactical strategies as well as the next few lessons for our students. You sound like you could use some company."

"I like that idea. I might just have to take you up on it," she said as they hung up their phones. To pass the time, she decided to clean the kitchen.

Back in CIC they were preparing for a nuclear attack on the planet. /"Mr. Gaeta, disable launch warhead safeties,"/ Adama requested as Roslin stepped back into the room. Then he turned to Tigh. / "XO, please input your firing code."/

/Adama and Tigh both put their keys into the device as Roslin watched pensively./ _Why do I feel like this is the end of the world again?_ She turned to the viewscreen.

Turning to see the screen as well, Adama ordered/"Fire on my mark."/

/"Sir raiders are coming back," Gaeta announced./

/"Not all of them" the admiral observed./

/"We have five, one's still there," Gaeta informed them./

They called a cease-fire with the Cylons as some of the people returned. The admiral then decided to head back to his quarters to study a few more reports about the planet. Roslin trailed behind him and the walk was silent. "Is there a particular reason you followed me home?" Adama asked coldly

"I'm taking Violet back to _Colonial One_ with me, like I usually do," she stated indignantly.

He shook his head adamantly. "No you're not. She stays here from now on."

She stared at him, wide-eyed, the hurt reflected in her eyes. "But we decided-"

"I'm deciding things with her from now on. There is no 'we' and the last person she needs as an influence right now is you," he growled quietly.

Roslin practically ran out of his quarters. He sighed heavily and sat down on his couch, his head still craned toward the door. _What have I done? I let my temper get the better of me and I not only chased out my best friend, I just took the girl she's come to see as a daughter away from her. What make my decision any better than hers?_

In his guilt-ridden musings, he did not see Violet storm out of the kitchen. She stood right in front of him and glared at him, not hiding any of her temper. "Why can't I go back with Mom to her ship?"

"Because you're staying here," he said flatly.

"Just because you two had a feud, I have to be passed between you two?" she demanded. "Don't I get a say in this? I'm not a child!"

He looked at her disapprovingly over the top of his glasses. "Young lady, you should be grounded for coming into CIC like you did. I'm taking responsibility as your father and making sure things don't get out of hand right now."

Her eyes were livid. "You just kicked her out!"

"I'm in no mood to deal with this right now, alright? Now go to your room for a while," he requested. "Please."

She shook her head, challenging him. "How can I go to my room if I don't have one here?"

"I will not take that kind of attitude from my own-" his temper was rising, but she interrupted him.

"I'm not five Dad, I'm seventeen. At least she asked me what I wanted to do. I don't mean to be disrespectful, but while you've been looking for places to assign me to, she's asked me what I want. Making me stay here when I have a place to go on her ship is only making things worse," she pointed out.

"What would you have me do?" he growled.

She took a deep breath and reigned in her emotions. "Whether or not you want to admit it, you're both stubborn as ever, but you need each other and when things aren't right between you two, it throws everything else, and everyone else off."

"I don't think she'll want to speak to me for a while," he grumbled quietly.

Violet crossed her arms and she met his deep blue eyes with her mother's green ones. "This is your mess, you fix it," she retorted, storming out of his quarters.

(My thanks to csiAngel, carolann, Trinity Everett, Alesia G, and Gabe for reviewing :D).


	9. Rebuilding bridges

Disclaimer: Battlestar Galactica belongs to Ronald D. Moore and the Sci-Fi channel. Violet Adama and Priam Bennick are mine. This chapter has spoilers from the episode "Rapture."

Chapter 9: Rebuilding bridges

Violet paced in front of the door a few times. _He's going to think that I'm some sort of basket-case_. Finally she knocked on the door. Priam opened it and eyed her with concern. "Vie, are you alright?" he questioned as he ushered her inside and closed the door behind her.

She took a deep breath and her eyes darted around the room for a moment, noticing a single bunk, a scrawny card table with two chairs, two filing cabinets, a counter with a sink next to a single cabinet, and an old couch. "I know I should've given you more warning, but I had to get out for a while."

They both sat on his couch. "What happened?" he asked.

"I don't know where I should begin," she stated.

He sighed, wondering if this was going to be a long discussion. "If you can't start at the beginning, why don't you start by telling me why you left Admiral Adama's quarters?" Priam suggested.

Violet fiddled with her hands for a moment. "He got mad and threw her out. I don't even know what they were fighting about, the admiral and the president. Then he told me that I was grounded and that I wouldn't be staying on _Colonial One_ anymore. It's not as if he has an extra bedroom! This whole mess is ridiculous."

She was sitting with her elbows on her knees like the admiral. "I know you're related to the admiral, but how are you also related to the president?" Priam inquired.

Turning to face him, she smirked and he noticed weariness in her eyes. "I'm related to both of them because they're actually my parents, and Lee is my half-brother," she revealed.

"Holy lords of Kobol," he breathed incredulously. He eyed her curiously. "How is that possible?"

"I'm not from this timeline," she told him about her shuttle's engine and he listened patiently until she had finished. "You don't look too surprised," she mentioned.

"Your story explains everything I was wondering about concerning you. The question now is, what are you going to do about your current problem?" he reminded.

Violet sighed heavily and stood, pacing the room like the president. "I don't know. I've still got some catastrophic disaster to stop and I've got no clue how do to that."

Priam's finger had been on his chin as he processed all that she had told him. Suddenly he stood and walked over to her. "They don't know that you're over here, do they?" he questioned.

She shook her head and gave him a wry grin. "Now what would be the point of running away for a while if they knew where I was?"

"The point is that both of them will be worried sick about you. They'll think you took a raptor down to the planet to rescue Lee. Vie, they need to know where you are," he hoped she would understand as he picked up the phone, trying to call first Adama, then Roslin. Unable to reach either of them, he turned back to Violet. "If I had to guess, I'd say they were out looking for you."

Nodding resolutely, she crossed her arms. "I suppose I should go find them and tell them I'm alright. Maybe my now things have settled down. I just wish that the Cylons…" she trailed off and remembered something. "Priam, we have to find Sharon! The hallucination I had in the classroom warned me to keep an eye on her. I completely forgot!"

His onyx eyes studied her as he attempted to devise a good solution. "We'll leave a note for your parents first," he suggested, grabbing a pen and paper from one of his filing cabinets. He stuck the note to his door as they left, hoping that the admiral would see it and not think that his daughter had been kidnapped.

Adama knew that Violet was right, and after she had left, he realized that he had to track her down. Seeing that she was not at the gym, he swallowed his pride and called _Colonial One_. "Madame President."

"Admiral," Roslin stated curtly.

"Is Violet with you?"

She heard the concern in his voice. "No, you told me that she would be staying with you. Why do you ask?"

"She stormed out of here and I can't find her," he admitted reluctantly.

"I'm coming," she hung up, not leaving any space for further discussion.

As he hurried to meet the president at the docking point, Cottle found the admiral and handed him a bottle of pills. "Bill, I revised the prescription and took out the chamalla. It'll take longer, but it'll still cure the girl."

"Jack, what are you talking about?"

"Laura came by to yell at me about the girl's medication because there was chamalla in it and the girl was reacting to it. She didn't tell you?"

The admiral sighed heavily. "She did, I just forgot with all that's been going on," Adama admitted. Cottle had to return to Life Station, leaving the admiral to greet the president.

"Madame President," he greeted.

"Admiral," she returned coldly.

A wall of ice seemed to stand between them and he decided that being honest would be the best way to melt it. "I've checked the gym already and I don't have a clue where Violet went," he told her frankly.

"And what makes you think that I might have a better idea?" she questioned, still irked with him.

_Laura, I am so sorry for what I said to you_. He could almost feel the hurt and anger radiating from her. "She talks to you more. I figured that she might've said something about a place she likes to go to think," he admitted.

Roslin thought for a moment, trying not to look at the admiral. _It figures that despite how angry you are at me, I'm the one you go to for help. At least when you've hit bottom in a day, you can only go up from here_. "She mentioned the engineers, but I don't think that with what's been going on that she would go there. Wait, because of the Cylons and the general schedule, there wouldn't be any school today, right?"

He raised an eyebrow. "That's right. What are you getting at?"

"I think that she might have gone to see Priam Bennick, since neither Starbuck, nor Lee are here right now," she suggested.

Adama stopped walking and weighed the idea. "Come to think of it, he does still have quarters here," he reasoned.

"It's worth a try," Roslin added.

The admiral nodded and the two began walking toward Priam's quarters. Adama let a heavy silence hang between them, but only for a while. "Cottle gave me new medication for Violet. I forgot you told me that she was having problems with the other stuff," he mentioned calmly.

"I just took care of the matter when I noticed that she was hallucinating and with all that's happened, I forgot about it too," she admitted. Then she began to nervously fiddle with her hands. "Bill, I really frakked up, and I'm sorry. I ran into Athena in the hallway and apologized to her before I went back to my ship after I left your quarters," she added quietly.

He stopped walking and gently held her forearm. As they stood, their eyes met and she realized that he was no longer angry with her. "Laura, I owe you an apology. I let my temper get the better of me and I treated you badly. I'm sorry about what I said to you, and I'm sorry that I tried to keep you away from Violet. I used her against you and that was wrong. She's gotten closer to you than she has to me. I frakked up too in how I handled the news about Hera."

"What you said really stung," she mentioned.

Sighing heavily, he looked away for a moment. "I had no right to tell you that I was disappointed in you. Both of us have had hard decisions to make and at the time, you thought you were doing the right thing with Hera. All I saw was a child being taken from her parents. Fact is that we've both made mistakes. Hell, the Cylon assault on Caprica might as well have been my fault. I'm really sorry," he conveyed.

She hugged him and they paused in a warm embrace. One of his hands played with the ends of her hair and he pulled her closer. An understanding was met and they resumed their walk, her arm linked with his. "Apology accepted. Let's promise that when we argue, we'll keep our heads on straight and keep Violet out of it," Roslin suggested.

Adama nodded. "Deal. She told me that this was my mess and that I should fix it."

Sighing and shaking her head, Roslin gave him a small smile and touched his hand. "No, this was our mess, but I'd say that we're definitely on our way to fixing it," she corrected. "I do have one question though. Athena mentioned that you didn't tell them that it was my fault. Why did you take responsibility for my decision?"

"It's simple; even if it wasn't my decision, both of us have to live with the consequences, and when you make decisions that affect my fleet, it makes me responsible for the outcome," he explained.

"But you don't have to do that," she protested.

They stopped in front of Priam's quarters and he took both of her hands in his. "Every decision we make, we are supposed to make together. I know it's an old-fashioned idea, but I'm responsible for you," he tried to make her understand.

Roslin raised an eyebrow. "Since we are in this together, wouldn't that also make me responsible for what you do?" she asked rhetorically.

_So much for being old-fashioned_. "That wasn't quite what I meant. However, I see your point and the best plans usually do take teamwork to iron out," he mentioned as he patted her hand.

She blushed and then smirked. "Oh Bill, I've cause you a lot of trouble, haven't I?"

He smiled back and both of them felt forgiven. "No more than I expected," he relayed before knocking on the door. Not receiving an answer, he sighed and glanced down for a moment. Then he noticed a scrap of paper on the floor. He picked it up and read it aloud. "Dear Admiral Adama and President Roslin, your daughter Violet is safe and we have gone to look for Sharon Agathon. I tried to contact you about where she was by telephone, but I could not reach either of you. Priam Bennick."

"I guess we have our answer," Roslin remarked.

"And he knows the family secret. I'm glad it was him and not someone else." Adama eyed the note and then stuffed it into his pocket. "Why did they go to see Athena though?"

He and Roslin began walking in the direction of Helo and Sharon's quarters. "Maybe it has something to do with her hallucinations," Roslin suggested.

They arrived to find security guards pulling out a body on a stretcher from Helo and Athena's quarters. Priam and Violet were standing off to the side. The young man looked up as the admiral approached. He stood his full height and saluted, to which Adama saluted back. "Admiral Adama, sir, I heard a shot when we arrived, so I alerted the security-"

He put up a hand. "At ease, Lieutenant Bennick. It's fine. We read your note," he paused and turned to Helo. "I want an explanation, but first I need to deal with a personal matter."

Priam, Adama, Roslin, and Violet stepped away from the doorway, Violet choosing to stand behind Priam. She tapped him on the shoulder and when he turned to her, she whispered something. She stood next to him with her arms crossed and he faced the other two again, relaying what she had said. "Vie doesn't want to speak to you two until are on speaking terms with each other."

The admiral rubbed the bridge of his nose while Roslin stepped forward. "Vie," she began. "We have reconciled with each other, and now we'd like to fix things with you."

Adama moved toward the girl and offered his hand. "You told me to fix my mess, and I have for the most part. I'm sorry that I put you in the middle of it. You can stay on _Colonial One_. I really should thank you for giving me a good ass-kicking today. Do we have a truce?" there was hopefulness in his voice.

Violet smiled politely and shook his hand. "Yes Admiral, I believe we do," she stated, seeming more like her mother again. But then he watched as her expression became serious, as if she was debating something. She dropped his hand and suddenly threw both arms around him for a hug. Shock registered on his face, but a glance at Roslin told him that he should return the hug.

Then the girl broke away and straightened her uniform with dignity, clearing her throat. "Now that we've settled that, I don't like being upset with you guys and I'm glad that we're all on the same page again."

"Speaking of being on the same page, they probably want to know what we're doing here," Priam reminded.

"Right. We need to keep an eye out when Sharon gets back from the ship. Another Number Eight might try to follow her. In my hallucination, _Galactica_ jumped, but the Cylons followed us because someone sent them our navigation plan right before we jumped," she explained.

"We'll keep that in mind," Roslin stated.

Adama glanced toward Helo's quarters and then back to his daughter and Priam. "We need to speak with Helo for a while. Do you mind going back to my quarters again?"

Violet smiled. "I'll behave myself this time," she mentioned with a smirk.

The admiral then faced Priam. "Bennick, would you mind walking my daughter back to my quarters?"

"That will be fine, sir," Priam replied, standing stiffly.

Adama grinned at the young man's nervousness. "I thought I told you 'at ease.' If you've got time, she'd probably like it if you wanted to stay and visit for a while," he turned his gaze from Priam to Violet, who nodded calmly. "Dismissed," he told the two.

The admiral faced the president as the other two left. Roslin glanced behind her. "I don't think I've ever seen him so nervous. Bill, I think you scared the living daylights out of him," she remarked.

He chuckled. "I didn't do anything."

"You didn't have to. The young lady he's been working with shows up at his door and then he has to explain to her father, who happens to be the admiral, what they've been doing. Wouldn't you be nervous?" she pointed out with a wry grin.

Thinking about it for a moment, he nodded. "Probably."

Adama and Roslin headed into Helo's quarters and watched him. "Helo, why?" the admiral began.

The man had tears in his eyes. /"She begged me,"/ he managed.

Sighing heavily, Adama rubbed the bridge of his nose. /"If only somebody had patience. Procedures, navigations, the tactical situation down on the planet, Cylons have access to all that now," he pointed out.

Helo was not deflated. /"She'll get Hera, she'll come back. Hera's alive. Athena wouldn't betray us."/

"She may not have a choice," Adama remarked.

Roslin had remained silent but then stepped forward. /"That's quite a leap of faith. You've put the entire fleet in jeopardy," she mentioned calmly./

Helo stood and glared at her, not knowing that she had already spoken with Athena. /"If you hadn't lied and stolen our baby, we wouldn't be here now!" He took a few steps toward her, but Adama held him back/.

The admiral and the president exchanged looks and she realized that it would be better to leave the two men alone. /"There is plenty of blame to throw around and I accept it/. I sincerely apologize for what has happened to your daughter. /All we can do is hope that your wife knows what she's doing,"/ she paused and looked toward Adama. /"You as well, Admiral,"/ she added softly before leaving, deciding to check on Violet.

On the way to Adama's quarters, Violet and Priam had chatted. "Why were you so nervous around the admiral?" she inquired.

"Because he's not only the admiral. He's your father," Priam explained.

"He thinks highly of you," she relayed.

Priam opened his mouth to say something and then closed it again, as if recalling another item. Then he spoke. "How did he like the quiche?"

She smiled at his change of subject. "We all thought it was great. Do you have any more recipes?"

"Sure. I even have a few committed to memory that I can write down for you. It always pays to memorize some things," he remarked.

"Like formulas, those really ought to be memorized. It makes it a heck of a lot easier to teach if I've memorized the formula," she added.

He smirked as they reached the door to the admiral's quarters. "I think that's called knowing the subject matter you're teaching."

They entered and she offered him a glass of water. He shook his head and took a seat on the couch when she offered it. Then she headed over to the desk to retrieve a pad of paper and a pencil. "You said you had a couple of recipes memorized?" she asked hopefully as she sat on the couch.

He was dictating the third recipe when Roslin entered. "Madame President," Priam greeted, standing slowly.

Roslin grinned and shook her head. "Priam, it's 'Laura,' and that's not going to change now that you know the… family secret," she explained.

Letting his shoulders drop slightly, he visibly relaxed. "That's good. I was giving her a few more recipes."

"The quiche was fantastic. Your father would've been proud," Roslin conveyed.

His cheeks colored a little. "Thank you," he paused as Violet stood and for the first time he looked at the two of them as they stood together.

Violet walked over to Roslin and gave her a hug, which she returned. "I'm glad things are better now. What's going to happen with the planet?"

"No beating around the bush with you. We don't know just yet, so I'll have to go back to CIC, as will your father. I wanted to see you first though," Roslin stated.

Priam had been silent for a while and Violet looked back in his direction. "What are you thinking?" she inquired. Roslin recognized the phrase as one she had used from time to time.

"You two really do have a resemblance. I can see why Tory would be worried, and I can't see a way to logically explain it, except that Vie could say that her hair color is really something else, in which case we would need a box of hair dye," he pointed out.

"I think we'll figure this one out as we go along," Roslin relayed. Then she faced Violet again. "I'm heading back to CIC to finish this business. The two of you can keep writing down recipes and later we'll have dinner," she suggested.

Violet looked over at Priam. "I'm fine with this idea, how about you?"

"It'll be a good plan until you run out of spices for the algae," he replied. They chuckled and went back to dictating as Roslin left.

Roslin entered CIC and walked over to Adama as Gaeta stated/"Sir, the Cylon fleet just jumped away."/

It was then that Roslin noticed the glowing mass in front of them that used to be a star. /"They don't wanna be here when that shockwave gets here," Tigh chimed in./

The admiral glanced over at the president and gave her a half-smile. /"Neither do we."/

/"Gonna be a photo finish," Tigh added before _Galactica_ jumped./

Remembering Violet's concerns about Number Eight and Athena, Roslin, Adama, Tigh, and a security team headed down to the docking bay, also accompanied by medics. Their first surprise was Chief Tyrol bringing back Baltar. "Is he…," Roslin began.

/"He's not dead," Tigh stated dryly./

/"No, unfortunately" Tyrol confirmed./

/Disembarking from the raptors that had also arrived, Lee and Dee hugged as Kara and Anders hugged, though they both looked at each other for a moment./ Adama walked over to his son and daughter-in-law. He got Lee's attention by clearing his throat. His son turned to face him and, dirty as he was from the planet, his father pulled him in to an embrace. Roslin watched with a smile from a few feet away.

"Your sister will be glad you're back," Adama relayed quietly enough so that only Lee could hear him. He hugged Dee as well and then walked over to Kara.

"Starbuck what did you manage to do to yourself this time?" he goaded, sounding strict, but she knew him better.

"Nothing out of the ordinary, sir," she replied with her usual smirk as he pushed a lock of smoked hair behind her ear. To Anders he gave a handshake. "After you guys pay a visit to Life Station and get cleaned up, come join us for dinner," he invited all four of them. Then he turned his attention to the other raptor.

/Athena disembarked holding Hera, but it was a surprise when Number Six followed her. Number Six was taken into custody as people began to clear the deck./ However, Adama thought it might be wise to check the raptor for any other stowaways. To his surprise as well as Athena's and Number Six's, he found a Number Eight hiding inside.

Dragging the Cylon out of the shuttle, Adama turned the Number Eight over to the security team. /Before returning to his quarters, Adama and Roslin met in the lab with Gaeta and Tyrol to discuss the findings from the temple on the planet. "This could be a vision of what is to come,"/ Roslin suggested.

/"I don't know what else if could be," Tyrol commented./

Gaeta studied the maps. "It was a nova, seen 4000 years ago."

Adama rubbed his chin with his index finger. /"Maybe it was a road sign, showing what we are going to next," he added./

Tyrol and Gaeta exited the room, leaving Adama and Roslin alone. "Wherever we're going, we're traveling together," he mentioned with a smile, extending his hand to her.

She took it and smiled warmly. "Right now I think we're heading to dinner."

(I apologize for the long wait on the update. My thanks to csiAngel, Trinity Everett, carolann, code, asouldreams, Izabella Black, and Mariel3 for reviewing :D).


	10. Keeping records

Disclaimer: Battlestar Galactica belongs to Ronald D. Moore and the Sci-Fi channel. Violet Adama and Priam Bennick are mine. The hallucination is in italics.

Chapter 10: Keeping records

After Priam had volunteered to cook dinner, Adama told him that he and Violet would be cooking for eight and then offered his and Roslin's help. With four people in the kitchen, it soon became crowded. Roslin was walking past the cupboard to find silverware in a drawer while Adama was perusing the top cabinet for syrup. As he brought his arms down holding the syrup to set it on the counter, Roslin had not yet passed him and he ended up unintentionally barricading her with his arms.

"Looks like I caught you," he teased as Priam picked up the syrup to use on the food.

She chuckled and her eyes sparkled at him flirtatiously. "In that case I had better make a hasty escape," she commented, holding his left arm up as if to step under it.

With his right arm he caught her by the waist, sliding his arm around her and pulling her back to him. They had momentarily forgotten that Violet and Priam were still in the kitchen. "Not so fast," he told her. She looked over her shoulder at him.

"Oh really?" her eyes seemed to encourage the game further.

Priam caught Violet's attention and gave a nod to the living room. They grabbed the silverware as well as the food, having finished cooking it, and then headed into the living room. "I've honestly never seen them do that before," Violet conveyed as she set out napkins.

"They certainly aren't fighting anymore," Priam mentioned. "So who's coming to dinner again?"

"Kara, Lee, Dee, and Anders," she answered.

They looked back at the table arrangement. He sighed and moved the forks as she raised an eyebrow. "It seems that I'm the outsider of the group. Kara and Sam are married and the admiral regards them as family, Lee and Dee are his son and daughter-in-law, and you're his daughter," Priam pointed out.

"You forgot Laura," she added.

He glanced back toward the kitchen. "That's another story."

She chuckled lightly and shook her head. "It'll be fine."

In the kitchen, two people were still oblivious to the world around them. "Since you've captured me, what do you plan on doing with me?" Roslin inquired, turning so that she was facing Adama.

Chuckling, he grinned at her. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

She giggled and glanced around before their foreheads met. "I think we scared off Violet and Priam," she teased.

He found himself starring at her lips, but then he looked away. "I'm trying to figure out how we ended up here," he admitted.

"It's better than where we were earlier," she chimed in, smirking.

Turning slowly to glance into the living room, he released her. "We should probably join them so they don't worry," he suggested. She nodded and they walked into the living room.

Anders, Kara, Lee, and Dee soon arrived and everyone seated themselves. As Lee walked in, Violet sauntered over to him and gave him a tight hug. "Thank the deities you're not dead," she conveyed.

He chuckled and returned the hug. "It's good to see you too, Vie."

The main meal consisted of fried algae patties that had been marinated in syrup for a sweet tasted. With flour and a few other ingredients, they were also able to have algae biscuits. As Anders was eating, he looked over at Kara. "You were right, we should stay for dinner when we're invited. This is great."

Kara smiled and glanced at the admiral and the president before seeking Violet's attention. "Food's great Vie, who do we owe compliments to?"

Violet looked to her left and right. "The four of us cooked, but the recipes were all from Priam," she informed the woman.

"A good catch then," Kara told Violet with an approving smile.

Violet blushed and studied her food. Priam, noticing her discomfort, decided to change the subject. "Are you still coming by to teach physics tomorrow?"

"Of course," she said, having regained her composure. "I might even be able to make it work with the history lesson."

"You two teach?" Anders inquired.

"Yes. I teach math, history, and biology while Vie teaches applied physics," Priam explained, turning back to Violet. "I'm talking about the first years of flight and some of the early models that led to what we have now."

Violet smiled. "I was planning on talking about basic propulsion anyway."

"Would you ever have a guest speaker? The class might benefit from the chief coming by and explaining a few things too," Dee suggested.

Priam and Violet faced each other and seemed to confer silently. He shrugged his shoulders and she smiled before turning back to Dee. "That sounds like an interesting idea."

"It might also help if you let the children make models from time to time. I'm sure we could find something for them to use," Roslin suggested.

Dinner continued pleasantly and then Kara left with Anders. Dee headed out too after Lee explained that he wanted to stay a little longer. He, Priam, and Violet cleaned up the table and the dishes. Then they sat in the living room with Adama and Roslin. Violet told Lee that Priam knew the family secret. "So you're the guy who's dating my sister," Lee blurted out.

Violet gave him a scolding look that reminded him of the president before she swatted his arm. "I can't date until I'm eighteen."

"We work together," Priam interjected.

Roslin watched at the scene and looked over at Violet and Lee. "Do you two need to be separated?" she teased.

Violet shook her head and sighed as Lee chuckled and Priam smirked before standing. "I think that since dinner is cleaned up, I really should get back to my lesson plan for tomorrow."

"Wait," Lee stated as he quickly rose. "Look, I was just giving you a hard time. If you leave because of what I said, she's never going to let me hear the end of it," he attempted to fix what he had started.

Priam smiled politely. "It's been a long day and the truth is that I have classes tomorrow. I'd sooner throw myself in the brig than cause her any trouble."

Lee grinned and offered his hand. Adama and Roslin sighed with relief as the two young men shook hands.

Violet stood and walked with Priam to the door. "See you tomorrow," she stated as she gave him a quick hug. Though surprised, he returned it.

Roslin and Adama headed over to him. "It was nice to have you over. Thank you for dinner," the admiral told him with a sincere smile.

"You're welcome, sir," he replied.

The president had something to say also. "Tory has a cold and Vie is going to need a ride. Would it be too much trouble for you to stop by _Colonial One_ in the morning?"

Priam said that he would pick Violet up in the morning. As he left, she looked over at Roslin. "Are we going back to the ship now?"

The president was about to say yes, but then looked over at the admiral as he answered for her. "Vie, is it alright if Lee walks you back? Laura and I want to talk for a while," Adama requested.

The girl smirked. "No fighting?"

They both held up their hands. "No fighting."

Violet headed over to her bag and pulled out the photo album, bringing it to the president and the admiral. "Before I go, I want you two to see this. It was always the first thing I grabbed in an emergency."

Roslin accepted the heavy well-used worn album. "I'll bring it back with me tonight," she mentioned.

"Thanks," Violet stated as she left with Lee after hugging Adama and telling him goodnight.

Adama smirked as he and Roslin sat down on the couch. "She's going to give him one hell of a lecture."

Roslin laughed softly. "Not that it isn't undeserved. Poor Priam, I hope he forgives all of us for this evening," she remarked.

"At least they shook hands on it. Give him time and he won't be as nervous," Adama added chuckling.

"You may have to amend that one," Roslin commented.

He raised an eyebrow. "Amend what?"

"The dating idea," she pointed out.

"They've known each other for a week. It's better for all parties if they're friends first. I might subtract a few months though."

The hard front of the album opened with a soft pop to reveal a three-ring binder holding tan pages with pictures neatly tucked behind sheets of plastic. They stared down wide-eyed at the first picture as if it could move.

"This is so strange. It's us, but it isn't us," Roslin remarked.

"I wonder whose idea keeping my mustache was," Adama added.

Right in front of them was their wedding picture. Both were obviously younger and grinning brightly at each other. It had been a military wedding, with Zack and Lee trailing along. The next photo set was a birthday party for one of the boys, but time had obviously passed because the woman was pregnant.

As they continued to flip carefully through the album, Violet was a tiny baby. They watched her and the boys grow up. School achievements and science projects were also in the album. Zack and Kara were married in another photo. Holidays rolled by and the last pictures were of Violet's seventeenth birthday and her parents' nineteenth anniversary. In a pocket on the back cover, Violet's birth certificate was also present.

Roslin had tears in her eyes as they finally closed the album. Adama also had to wipe his eyes. "She has a record now, not only of herself, but of her family," Roslin mentioned.

"She's been dealing with this really well, hasn't she?" Adama commented as he sighed heavily.

Standing, Roslin held the book closely and Adama walked with her to the door. "I'll head back to my ship."

"I'll walk you there," it was a statement.

They walked in contemplative silence for a while, until they reached the docking bay. "I wish there was something more we could do for her," Roslin conveyed as Adama dismissed the guard.

Adama thought for a moment as he faced Roslin. "We could have a small service for them," he suggested.

"I think it's a good idea, and I'll run it by her," Roslin responded.

They stood facing each other, suddenly nervous. "They… looked happy, didn't they?" the president finally said.

He knew whom she was referring to. "Yes, they did. Do you think that…" he trailed off, not knowing how she would react.

"I've been wondering myself…" she could not find the right words either.

"Do you really think-"

"It might work if we-"

"Work together at this-"

"Bill, this is-"

"I know, Laura."

They had moved closer to each other. He gently grasped her upper arms as her arms were still wrapped around the album. They met each other half way in a searing kiss that left both of them breathless. "I love you, Bill," she breathed.

"I love you too, Laura," he whispered before his lips claimed hers again in another passionate kiss.

When they broke away, both were grinning and blushing like teenagers. "Well, goodnight," Roslin nervously squeaked out.

"Goodnight," Adama managed to sound more calm than he felt. They smiled at each other again before she left.

On _Colonial One_, Violet raised an eyebrow to see Roslin walking into the room, holding the album as she blushed furiously. "Hi Mom, what's up?" the girl probed as she stood.

The president handed Violet's album back to her and sat in one of the seats. "We looked through your album," she paused as the girl waited with interest. "I'll be honest and say that it was odd seeing another version of myself. Bill and I wondered if you wanted to have a small service, for your _Galactica_."

By Violet's rapid blinking, Roslin knew that she had surprised the girl. Violet had shown them the album with the hope that they would see that it was possible to be a couple. She had not expected this sort of offer at all and had to sit down. "You guys would do that?"

The president smiled and touched Violet's shoulder. "We wanted to give you a sense of closure."

Violet allowed a few quiet tears to slip through as she smiled and managed a thank you. After they had prepared for bed, the two sat on Violet's make-shift bed and chatted. "This has been one of the strangest days," the girl began.

Roslin nodded in agreement. "For all of us. Did you lecture Lee when he walked you back?"

The girl laughed. "Let's just say he knows that he stepped over a line," she answered. "Now what happened in the kitchen?"

Blushing again, she thought back to the incident. "You could say that we were putting things back together," she responded.

"Or flirting," Violet pointed out.

"Alright, it was flirting. The point is that you don't have to worry about us anymore," Roslin commented.

"What did you two think of the album?" Violet inquired.

Roslin was glad for the change of topic and sighed, pausing for a long moment. "It was strange to see myself in a life that wasn't mine, but it was an interesting way to learn more about you and how you grew up," she responded.

Violet yawned. "I think it's time for bed."

The older woman yawned too. "I agree. Goodnight, Vie," she stated, giving her a hug.

"Goodnight, Mom," Violet said as she returned the hug.

_As she slept, Violet found herself on the current Galactica again. "What's wrong this time?" she asked, looking around her as klaxons went off._

_ Suddenly standing in CIC, she watched from the viewscreen as the Cylons attacked. Then she was whisked away to the engineering section. Damage from the attack had caused pipes to burst and had closed crawl-way access points to manual switches. She turned as someone tapped her on the shoulder._

_ "Jake, what do I need to do now?" she asked him._

_ He walked over to a wall near one of the closed crawl-ways. After he moved his hand in front of a space, that part became transparent and she watched as a few pipes turned off a red switch. "They will win the battle, but they won't survive long. You know this game, Stats. What happens when there's no gravity and things collide?"_

_ She turned to hear an engineer yelling about a fire before she heard an explosion. Flames and smoke blocked her view of anything else. Then she heard the call again. "This is Admiral Adama, everyone abandon ship. I repeat, everyone abandon ship."_

Violet woke up coughing again. Roslin rushed in and handed her a glass of water. "I'm sorry I forgot to get your other medication from Bill. The doctor gave it to him yesterday afternoon. You had another dream, didn't you?" she inquired.

"_Galactica's_ going to be attacked again and I've got to fix something," the girl explained.

Roslin studied her for a moment and moved a few stray hairs behind Violet's ear. "You will. Now go back to sleep," she relayed with a mixture of gentleness and confidence.

Priam took Violet to the school the following morning. "You were awfully quiet on the shuttle," he mentioned as they entered the classroom.

"I had another dream," she told him as she set out her files on his desk to arrange a few handouts for the students.

"You're not back on chamalla, are you?" he asked with calm concern.

She shook her head. "No, thank goodness. There's just something else I need to do."

He took out a few photos of old planes and clipped them to the top of the white-board. "I don't pretend to understand, but I believe you."

"Thanks," she added.

Students soon filed into the room and took their seats. They were two hours into the lesson when the klaxons went off. "Everyone stay where you are," Priam advised.

Violet stood and froze as she heard Jake's voice again, _"You know the game, Stats."_ She looked over at Priam. "I have to go."

He caught her arm before she could dash out of the door. "Do you know how to fly the shuttle?" She noticed sincerity mixed with concern in his onyx eyes.

"I can manage enough," she replied.

"You mean you flew one once because you had to and now you're hoping to do it again by the same luck," he assessed.

She smirked. "Pretty much. I have to do this."

He sighed and let her go, calling after her, "Be careful."

(I'm sorry that it took so long to update, I partly blame the Super Bowl. My thanks to Gabe, carolann, Mariel3, Trinity Everett, csiAngel, and kywildcat for reviewing :D).


	11. Making new memories

Disclaimer: Battlestar Galactica belongs to Ronald D. Moore and the Sci-Fi channel. Violet Adama, Jake Camaretti, and Priam Bennick are mine.

Chapter 11: Making new memories

"Come on, please work," Violet said aloud as she attempted to pilot the shuttle. As she had figured, sheer luck brought her to the docking bay. In the confusion her request to dock got through and she broke into a dead run to the engineering section as soon as she disembarked from the shuttle.

She arrived just in time to witness some of the pipes bursting as people made calls for mechanics and engineers. The room began to fill with steam and smoke as she made her way to the crawl-way from her dream. Trying to take shallow breaths, she still ended up coughing. To her surprise, she bumped into Lee's back. He had been called to direct repairs after giving the admiral a brief verbal report and turned immediately.

"Vie, what are you doing here? Go back to your classroom," he advised.

"I need to get to that crawl-way," she stated confidently walking past him as more pipes crashed and hissed.

He grabbed her arm. "Oh no, this is one scheme of yours I'm not going along with. You're going to get hurt!"

"Lee, I can do this!" she protested, wrenching her arm out of his grip. She dropped her day uniform jacket on the floor and looked from her brother back to the wrecked piping that she would have to crawl through to find the switch.

"You're not going. It's too dangerous," he told her flatly.

"You don't understand; I'm the only one who can do it!" she argued, not caring who was listening to the way she addressed him.

Without waiting for him, she entered the small passage and began a crawl. Adama had decided to see how things were going in the engineering sector for himself and found his son staring at the passage. "Commander, what's going on?" he questioned.

"Sir, she just went in there. I think she's trying to reach the switch," Lee answered. The admiral sighed heavily, knowing instinctively that Lee was referring to Violet. _I ask again, why do my children like reckless heroics?_

She took shallow breaths through the smoke and steam. Already breathing had become difficult, but she kept going. _Frak, maybe Lee was right_, she thought ruefully as she moved a few loose pipes out of her way. Suddenly one burst near hear and she gasped as she ducked the flying piece of pipe.

Adama heard her and called into the passage, "Vie, are you alright?"

_Great, now Dad's going to be mad at me for this too_. "Fine, sir," she managed to call back as she continued moving past debris. She pulled her shirt up over her mouth and nose. Finally she saw it: the switched.

Outside the admiral had his arms crossed in front of him, trying not to appear worried in front of his crew. Outside he may have looked like his usual stony self, but inside the worry was eating at him. _She has to make it out, I can't lose this one_, he realized.

Violet flipped the switch and then contorted herself into a few odd angles until she could successfully turn around and go back out. Her eyes had begun to water from the smoke. "I got it," she tried to call out, hoping someone would hear her. The admiral heard and he stared at the passage with a grain of hope. Finally he heard shuffling and then she crawled out, back into the engine room.

Dirty from the smoke and heat, she staggered and placed her hand against the wall to hold herself up. She heard Jake's voice one last time, _"Nice job, Stats."_ Coughing, she stood as tall as she could, looked her father in the eyes, and said "It's done, sir."

The joy that filled him when he saw her was no longer paying attention to what anyone around them suspected. Without hesitation he pulled her into an embrace and held her securely. "Don't you ever scare me like that again," she heard him whisper. "That was dangerous and there's only one of you here."

"I saw it in the vision. No one else would've known where to go," she commented.

"But I can't replace you, Vie," he told her as he finally let her go. "Come on, I'm taking you to Life Station."

"I'm never going to hear the end of this from Doc," she wheezed. _Or from Mom_, she mentally added.

"Next time, leave the 'risking your life' part to the professionals," Lee goaded her.

In Life Station Cottle placed her on oxygen for a while as Adama received a call from _Colonial One_. "Yes, Madame President?" he wondered whether it was professional or personal.

"Bill, I just wanted to check to see how things were. It looks like _Galactica_ took the brunt of the attack," he heard her say.

He glanced over at Violet and noticed that she was breathing better. Then he remembered that he still had her medication. "Bill, are you still there?" he realized that he had been distracted.

"Sorry, yes. Galactica is fine and will continue to be, thanks to Violet."

"What happened?"

"I'll explain when you get there," he commented, knowing that she would be on her way soon. "I need to stop by my quarters first to get her medication though."

"I'll meet you there and you can tell me what this is all about," she responded.

She was already sitting in his quarters when he walked in. They greeted each other with warm kisses. "What happened?" Roslin asked.

He picked up the prescription bottle sitting on his desk. "Walk with me to Life Station."

"Bill, is Violet alright?" she asked with worry.

"I'll explain in the way," he began. They left his quarters and headed toward Life Station, continuing their discussion. "I still need the whole story myself. When I came down to the engineering to assess the damage from the attack, I found Lee standing outside a crawl-way. Violet had climbed in there and was pushing aside pipes and smoke to reach an important switch. If she hadn't done that, parts of the engineering sector would've lost gravity and with a few fires, we could've had some real problems."

"But is she alright?" Roslin questioned again. "Bill, if she's not alright, I'd like to know now."

He put up a hand. "She'll be fine, Laura. Jack just has her on oxygen for a while and she needs her medication. When she came out of the crawl-way, she told me that she was the one who needed to do it because of some vision."

Roslin paled and put a hand over her mouth. Adama raised an eyebrow. "Did you know about this?"

The president nodded slowly. "She didn't tell me much about the specifics, but last night she woke up coughing, having had another dream that told her she needed to help _Galactica _again."

"You mind telling me the next time she has one of these 'visions' so I know what to expect?" he asked. She could tell that he was annoyed about being left out of that particular loop.

"Definitely. I'm sorry about not telling you earlier," she relayed.

They entered Life Station and Roslin's eyes immediately sought out Violet. She sat on a bed as Cottle took her off of the oxygen. The girl looked up to see a few familiar faces. "Mom, Dad, what are you guys doing here?"

Roslin sat down on the bed next to her. "We were worried. Your father has your medicine. Now, the next time you have a dream, could you please tell us specifically what happens?"

Violet nodded. "Sure. Sorry about not doing that. The alarms went off in the classroom and I knew that I had to get back over to _Galactica_," she relayed.

"You mean you flew back over here by yourself?" Adama probed.

"Yes." Suddenly she hopped down from the bed. "I have to call Priam and let him know I'm alright. Can I use the phone here?" she asked Adama.

The admiral looked over at Cottle, who simply shrugged. "Go ahead, Vie," Adama told her.

She picked up the phone and waited. After a moment she heard his voice. "Priam, it's me, Vie. I'm alright and I fixed what I needed to fix. I should be able to help you tomorrow. Really, I'm fine. You take care of yourself too, bye," she ended. When she faced Roslin and Adama, a faint blush spread across her cheeks. "I should've called him sooner. He called _Colonial One_ and Dad's quarters."

"Can't have too many people keeping an eye on you," Adama teased her.

"As long as Lee doesn't call. He's more overbearing than both of you," she stated as she grinned wryly. They laughed and headed back to the admiral's quarters for lunch.

After a long day, the girl fell asleep almost instantly. Violet had one last dream like the previous ones though. _She was on Galactica, looking out at the stars from the observation lounge. There was no one around her though as she turned to look. Going back to the stars, she wondered what would need fixing this time. The hand on her shoulder startled her and she turned, only to face Jake._

_"What do I need to do?" she asked him._

_Instead of giving her instructions, or pointing out a problem, he simply smiled at her sadly. He pulled her into a hug and then she understood. A few tears slipped through before they pulled back. She smiled at him in the way he had smiled at her._

_"You played the game well, Stats," he conveyed._

_She was finished, and he was really leaving. "Thanks, Jake, for everything."_

_He cupped her cheek with is right hand. "It's time for me to go. Bye, Stats."_

_"Goodbye, Jake," she replied. He leaned close and kissed her gently._

She did not wake up coughing that night. Her eyes were damp though. She moved to a window and watched the stars for a while. As she took a deep breath, her lips curled into a bittersweet smile and she put her right hand up to the glass. "May the Gods lift those who lift each other. Please take good care of Jake," she whispered. After a moment she went back to bed.

Roslin had heard her stir and rose to make certain that the girl was alright. She found Violet with her hand on the window and heard what was said. Violet was still unaware of anyone else as she returned to her bed. There was something peaceful about her now. The older woman walked over to the same window to watch the stars for a while.

Since the attack two days had passed. Violet and Priam had continued teaching and it looked as though life had finally begun to settle into a calm routine for Violet, ending with a family dinner. This night would be different though. Adama and Roslin had planned a small service for Violet's _Galactica_.

She stood holding a lit candle, looking down at the eight unlit candles by the window that had been set out on top of a black and purple cloth. Roslin spoke first. "We are gathered to remember our dead, to remember their sacrifice, to honor their memory."

Violet watched her nod and then she spoke. "We honor the memories of Bill Adama," she paused between the names to light a candle, "Laura Adama, Lee Adama, Zack Adama, Kara Adama, Saul Tigh, and Jake Camaretti. We light this last candle for those who are too numerous to name. May they all find the same peace."

"May the Gods lift those who lift each other," the admiral stated.

"May our loved ones find eternal rest in the Elysian fields," Roslin added.

Violet closed her eyes for a moment of silence before the end response. "So say we all?"

"So say we all," Adama and Roslin responded in unison.

As the tears ran freely down her face, Violet was still able to smile. They had given her something she had needed: closure. And with that sense of closure, she had the strength to continue in her new life. A week later, Kara, Violet, Priam, and Lee found themselves in the admiral's office.

"Sir, are we in some sort of trouble?" Kara inquired.

Adama chuckled and shook his head. "I need your help, all of you."

Glancing around the room, Violet smirked as she realized who was missing. "You want our help in planning a date, don't you?"

He only smiled at the fact that she could read him so well. "Yes, actually. Kara, do you happen to have another bottle of that clear stuff?"

"Sure but I…" she trailed off and dealt him a wry grin. "Holy frak, you used the first one?"

Violet and Lee locked gazes and started laughing. Adama looked between them and then back to Kara. "Those two used it to spike some punch, but since then I've misplaced that bottle. I suppose in a way I took you up on your advice," Adama remarked.

The wheels in Kara's mind quickly turned and she assessed what he had meant. Then she joined in the laughter too. What was truly comical was the incredulous expression that Priam was giving them, as if they had all gone temporarily insane, which of course made everyone laugh more. Finally Violet recovered first and took a deep breath.

"I'll tell you about it later," she said to Kara.

"I can find another bottle, sir," Kara commented.

Adama cleared his throat. "Good. Now Lee, I need you to bring the president to my quarters, but tell her it's a military matter. Vie, Priam, if you two wouldn't mind, I could use a little help with dinner."

They both smiled. "Gladly, sir," Priam responded.

"Now I can handle the music, but I need one more favor," the admiral paused and actually blushed. "Do any of you know where I can find a ring?"

Kara grinned madly. Lee rolled his eyes at Violet's smile, which read 'I told you so,' but then he smiled back. Priam stared at Adama with surprise, but also admiration. He looked down at his shoes and thought for a moment, holding his index finger to his chin. Finally he looked up again.

"I might know someone. A friend's aunt took a good amount of jewelry with her when she left Caprica. What size ring are you looking for?" he asked.

Adama's face went blank as he thought, but Violet had the answer. "She wears a size six."

_I'm actually going through with it. This is really going to work_, Adama thought to himself. "Thank you, all of you. Now let's get started," he ended.

Roslin looked up at her desk to find Lee standing in front of her. "Lee, what can I do for you?"

The younger man smiled. "The admiral has some military issues that he wants to talk to you about, if you wouldn't mind meeting with him in his quarters."

She immediately stood, concern showing on her face. "Is there some reason he doesn't want to meet me here? Is he alright?"

Lee put a hand on her shoulder. "Everything's fine. He just wanted to have a more relaxed meeting."

Sighing with relief, she nodded. "Alright then, let's go."

When they reached the admiral's quarters, Lee stopped to knock. Priam and Violet exited, leaving only a sliver of light to be seen behind them, and were surprised to see Roslin there. "You're early," Violet told her brother.

Roslin raised an eyebrow and studied the two. "Priam, is there something I should know about?"

"No Laura, everything's fine," he relayed calmly.

"I meant between the two of you," Roslin stated with a smirk, gesturing between Priam and Violet.

The girl sighed and faced him. "I told you we shouldn't have gone back for the garlic. If we hadn't been looking for it, we would've been gone before she arrived."

Priam laughed. "I thought it was the sauce you made that took so long," he teased.

Everyone was saved from further discussion when the light turned off and Adama stepped outside. "Hello Madame President," he greeted her with a hand shake.

"Admiral," she greeted in return. Something in his smile told her that this was all part of his plan.

He faced the others. "Mr. Bennick, Lee, Violet, please try to stay out of trouble," he requested.

Violet smirked. "It's only cards, Dad."

"Just remember to leave everyone else with some dignity intact," he reminded her.

"We promise to bring her over to _Colonial One_ in a decent time, sir," Priam mentioned.

The admiral smiled and shook his head. "At ease, Bennick. I wouldn't be letting her out with you two if I didn't trust either of you. And then there's the fact that she'd sneak out anyway."

"Dad, I am standing right here. I thought we were going to forget that part," she remarked.

"Sometimes there are things that need to be said. Mr. Bennick, Vie has a good sense of judgment and if she trusts you enough to seek you out when she has a problem, I trust you also. You're playing cards with Starbuck and it's actually her I'm worried about," Adama explained.

"Thank you, sir," Priam added politely.

Adama grinned back. "Now go, all of you. The President and I have other things to tend to." As they left, he turned back to Roslin. "I'm going to turn the light back on, but I want you to close your eyes," he instructed.

She did as he asked and after he turned the light back on and shut the door, he led her to what felt like a chair. She heard him step in front of her and then felt his lips on hers in an affectionate kiss, which she responded to. "Open your eyes, Laura," he stated as he pulled away.

Someone had gone to the trouble of setting out and lighting several small, gardenia-scented candles. The table had two long orange candles in their brass holders on top of a white tablecloth. Dinner looked like green spaghetti and painfully procured red sauce to go with it. There was also a familiar bowl of punch on the table, but the punch seemed to be a different type than the last batch. Adama pulled out a chair for Roslin and took his seat after she was comfortable.

"What do you think?" he asked.

Something she could not name about the ambiance of the room caused her to blush. "It's lovely, Bill. How in the world did those two make this?" she commented, looking at dinner.

"They're just good at it. All Violet needed was a little help and she's almost as good at improvised cooking as Bennick is," he paused as they began eating. "I've been thinking about what you said and I'll tell her she can date in a few months. While we were getting all of this ready, I overheard the talking. He's been a big help to her adjusting, and he read her well," Adama relayed.

Roslin swirled the noodles around her fork. "Yes, and she's been a terrific help to him in the classroom. It took a while for him to adjust to things after New Caprica. He trusts her possibly as much as she trusts him. They seem to be good for each other."

He poured them each a glass of punch. "I'll admit that it's spiked, but it's got more of a berry taste to it than before."

She took a drink and smiled. "This is good. Tell me, who knew about this… date you have obviously gone to great lengths to plan?"

"I had to let Starbuck in because the other bottle she gave me got misplaced. Lee had to know in order to bring you here without too many questions. And of course I needed some ideas for a good meal," he explained.

Priam, Lee, and Violet soon arrived in the mess hall to find Kara and Tigh ready for the card game. Dee and Anders had shifts that evening. Lee took his seat, but Priam pulled a chair out for Violet before taking his own seat. Tigh offered drinks. Violet refused, explaining that she was not old enough. Priam declined, saying that he did not like the taste. Lee wondered to himself if Priam had actually declined because he wanted at least one sober person to escort Violet back to _Colonial One_.

As the game began, it became clear that Violet and Priam were both precision card players. "Hey Bennick, how come you never stuck around for cards before?" Tigh inquired.

"In those days I had a late shift," he explained.

Kara was surprised at how well the newcomers were doing. "Vie, who taught you how to play cards?"

Violet smirked and glanced at both Lee and Kara. "I had a father, a god-father," she paused and glanced at Tigh, who scowled back, "two brothers, and a sister-in-law who were all very good at it."

"That explains one of you. What's your excuse?" she goaded Priam.

He rubbed his chin and thought for a moment. "I had seven brothers and sisters that I couldn't lose a game to, and while I was on New Caprica, I played cards because I was horrible at pyramids."

At the end of two rounds, Priam and Violet ended up at the end. They were calling draws and stopping until an intoxicated Kara ordered them to finish the next game. Priam had raised the stakes. "I'm out," Lee remarked. "Dee's already going to be mad at me for what I spent at the bar."

Tigh put his cards down and scooted his chair back, sighing heavily. "Damn, I'm out too."

Kara frowned at her hand in disgust and slammed it down on the table. "This is pathetic! I fold," she said before taking another drink.

Priam and Violet faced each other. "Don't think that I plan on folding," Violet conveyed.

"It's not you," he responded.

She glanced at her cards and placed another credit in the pile, looking him directly in the eye. "I see your bet, and I raise you."

He smirked and shook his head. "The odds are that you don't have that good of a hand."

She snorted. "Just because you teach math, doesn't mean that you know more about this game than I do," she challenged calmly, sitting up straighter and resembling Roslin.

"You're bluffing, I can see it," he relayed, matching the new bet.

"You're worried that I'm not. As you've noticed, I like competition," she stated with a sly smile.

"I know you're bluffing," he persisted.

"Then you go first," she suggested. He laid is cards down and her expression shifted from cunning to discomfort. "Oh," was all she managed before displaying her cards. Sighing, she still smiled. "You were right."

"You were overconfident, and that's what tipped me off," he told her with a smirk.

She slowly smiled back and laughed. "And you tell me that you can't read minds. Do we still have time for one more game?"

He looked at his wrist watch. "We should. I think it would go faster if we played in teams."

"Nice way to get out of the draw," Lee mentioned.

Violet nodded and then yawned. "And then I believe a good night's sleep is in order. It's going to be a long day of physics equations tomorrow." She then wondered how the president and the admiral were doing.

Roslin glanced around the room again. "You honestly don't expect them to come back this way tonight, do you?" she teased with a mischievous grin, laying her jacket over the back of her chair.

He chuckled. "I think an admiral and a president could do without any interruptions once in a while, especially since I left a sign on the door, telling them to take Violet back."

They ate, content to enjoy each other's company. As the finished eating and drinking a few more cups of punch, she heard music again, this time a pleasant slow number from an old Caprican band. It reminded her briefly of the music from Colonial Day. He stood and walked over to her, offering his hand. "May I have this dance?"

"Of course," she replied calmly.

His left arm went around her waist as her right arm draped over his shoulder. Their other hands met and the fingers laced together. Neither spoke for a few minutes. He kissed her cheek and broke the silence. "I have loved you probably since Colonial Day."

"And I have loved you since you found us on Kobol and told me that it was good to see me," she added.

The song had changed, but they stopped dancing to kiss tenderly. He pulled away in order to reach into his pocket. Bringing out a crumpled blue handkerchief, he looked directly into her green eyes. "Laura Roslin, I love you very much. I have enjoyed working with you, but more than that, I have enjoyed being with you," he paused and glanced down at the cloth in his hand for a moment, collecting his thoughts.

Facing her again, the opened the cloth and removed a small gold ring with three emeralds embedded in it. "I had to ask a few favors to find this. I know they're not diamonds, but… Laura Roslin, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?"

After the second that he slid the ring onto her finger, her lips were pressed to his in a sound kiss. When they broke apart for air, they rested their foreheads together. "Yes, Bill, I love you too," she whispered. "Yes, I will marry you."

They kissed passionately as he pulled her closer to him. One of his hands wove itself into her hair. Her own hands moved to his neck, and then one of her hands raked its fingers through his hair. "In any timeline, I do believe that this was meant to be," she murmured.

"I couldn't agree more," he told her quietly. His lips quickly found hers again and he kissed her deeply. She wrapped one of her legs around his so that she was full flush against him.

"No interruptions this time," she said before he suddenly picked her up and carried her to his bedroom.

It was 0500 when they woke in each other's arms, their clothing scattered all over the bedroom floor. "I suppose I should get back to my ship," she murmured as he opened his eyes.

"I'd love to see your aide's face when you tell her where you spent the night," he joked.

She giggled. "And the colonel will probably be giving you suggestive looks all day," she teased.

After taking showers, both were dressed and he walked her to the docking bay. "I suppose we should set a date now," he began, unsure if she would want to wait long or not.

Seeming to read his expression, she gave him a small smile. "With family and friends helping us, I'd say that a month would be enough time."

He grinned in response and kissed her soundly before she left. More than seeing her aide, Roslin knew that the other person who would have an interesting reaction would be Violet. The girl met her as she stepped aboard and after making an assessment from a scrutinizing, yet amused look, she hugged the older woman.

"I'm sorry I wasn't back earlier," Roslin began.

Violet smirked. "You weren't supposed to be. Did you have a good evening?"

Roslin blushed. "Yes, I had a wonderful evening. Did you know about this?" she showed Violet the ring.

"Oh that's beautiful. I knew about it, but I didn't see what it looked like," Violet relayed.

"And how was your card game?" Roslin inquired.

"Priam and I wiped the floor with everyone else," the girl answered with a wry grin.

Hearing voices, Tory entered the room. Though she had gotten over her cold, it proved easier to have Priam take Violet to the classroom. "I've got to finish getting ready," Violet mentioned as she headed for the bathroom.

Tory seemed unsure of what to say at first, but then found her voice. "Madame President, I presume you spent the night in the admiral's quarters?" Roslin heard the reprimand in the other woman's tone.

"Yes. He and I are to be married in about a month," the president replied frankly, showing the ring.

Eyes wide in shock, Tory looked down at the files in her hands. "This will end up being made public. I hope that you have planned what you will tell the press."

Roslin sighed at her aide's dogged pursuit of public image. "Tory, everything will be fine."

A planet with a variety of fruits and vegetation had been found two weeks before the wedding. With the food supplies restocked, Priam and Violet were able to do the catering for the wedding without much trouble. Kara handled the drinks as well as minimizing the guest list. Lee and Tory cooperated with the press, coming to a compromise of a small wedding that would be broadcasted.

However, with the wedding preparations there was one problem: Violet had nothing appropriate to wear. She slumped down in a front-row chair after the students had left and groaned. Priam raised an eyebrow and sat on the edge of his desk in front of her.

"Is it really that bad?" he probed with a half-smile.

She sighed and shook her head. "It's dumb, but it bothers me. They're getting married in two days and all I have is my day uniform and a pair of sweats. I'm supposed to be her maid of honor and I don't have dress or anything close," she expressed.

He leaned forward and folded his hands. "It's not dumb. If my parents were getting married, I'd want something nice to wear too. Hmm," he paused and studied her. "Stand up for a minute."

Violet complied and Priam extended a hand from himself to her head after also standing. "What is it?" she inquired.

"I think that I might have an idea. You're about the same height as Kat," he mentioned.

She raised an eyebrow. "Who's Kat?"

"She was a good pilot, and a good friend. When we were trying to get to the planet where we found the algae, several of the pilots were exposed to radiation. Kat died after bringing one of the colony ships through the radiation nebula. I think Starbuck might still have her affects in storage. I know she wore a dress to an event on New Caprica. I know it sounds a bit morbid, but it might be a way to find you a dress on short notice," he suggested.

They sought out Kara and she agreed with Priam that Violet could probably wear the dress, if they could find it. Kat's things were supposed to be redistributed, but with all the recent problems they had dealt with, she had forgotten. The box had ended up under Kara's bed. The dress was neatly folded and was revealed to be a simple garnet cocktail dress.

"This is beautiful," Violet exclaimed.

"We'll go out so you can try it on," Kara encouraged.

She and Priam stood outside her quarters as Violet closed the door. She emerged five minutes later. "You look awesome!" Kara told her.

Unaccustomed to wearing dresses, Violet blushed. Then she slowly faced Priam and he noticed the hint of nervousness in her eyes. Smiling, he walked over to her. "You really do look nice Vie, but we need to find you a pair of shoes now."

Glanced down at her usual boots and grinned wryly. "Got any more ideas?"

"Maybe your parole officer could loan you a pair," he suggested.

Kara looked at the two incredulously. "Parole officer? What are you two talking about?"

Priam and Violet laughed at their private joke before she answered Kara. "He means Tory."

It took all of Violet's negotiation skills, but after an hour she was able to convince Tory to let her borrow a pair of open-toed black shoes for the wedding, but only for the wedding. The ceremony was to take place on _Colonial One_. Lee was his father's best man while Violet was the maid of honor. Dee and Kara were brides' maids. Tory kept a watchful eye on the two members of the press attending while Anders took pictures. Cottle sat near the press next to Priam and chuckled with the priest as they watched Adama continue to look at the door and pace back and forth in his gray dress uniform.

"She'll be here, Bill. I'm as certain of that as I am of the work load I'll have when I go back to Life Station," he tried to reassure the admiral.

"But what if she suddenly changes her mind? What if she's decide to hide on _Colonial One _and-"

"Dad, look behind you," Lee interjected.

Roslin entered and Tigh was walking her down the isle with Violet following. Dee had helped Violet curl her hair so that it hung down in ringlets. Roslin's hair was it's usual wavy graceful style and she was radiant, wearing a borrowed cream-colored drape-neck dress with fluted sleeves and a skirt that flared out slightly, borrowed from one of the Quorum members. Adama thought that she looked stunning. She caught his eye and blushed.

As Tigh let her go in front of the priest, Adama whispered, "You look lovely."

She grinned and replied, "You're not so bad yourself."

The ceremony seemed to go by in a blur. The only part Adama and Roslin would actually remember later was the passionate kiss at the end. They broke apart quickly though when they remembered the two members of the press. The president turned to them. "You can get shots of us leaving the ceremony, but we need you to step outside for those if you don't mind," she requested, receiving a nod from Adama.

The president and the admiral turned to Violet as the press made their exit. "There is one more thing to this," Adama began. "We know you're seventeen, but we'd like to make a few things official and adopt you as our daughter."

Violet looked from one to the other with confusion. "But I thought… I mean when I showed you the album-"

"We want to be your parents, not just because of what two people who look like us were able to do, but because we have both grown to love you and we want to make this as official as we can," Roslin whispered.

Understanding, she grinned at them both. "I love you guys too. Let's do this," she agreed.

After papers were signed, Roslin and Adama left, being photographed by the press as they headed for the shuttle that would bring them to _Galactica_. The plan was for them to have a two-day honeymoon in his quarters, from which they were under no circumstances to be disturbed.

Dee, Kara, Lee, and Anders left soon after the admiral and the president. As Violet tried to leave, Tory stepped in front of her. "Alright, it's over. Now give me back my shoes please," the aide nearly demanded calmly.

Violet took a deep breath, using her reserve of patience. _I am not going to let her ruin today by getting on my nerves_. "You will allow me the courtesy to at least retrieve my own shoes first," she told the aide in as presidential a voice as she could imitate.

Tory was expecting more of a battle. Such a political response actually caused her to falter and she simply nodded, leaving the room. Violet faced Priam, who had watched the scene with a smirk of mild amusement. "See? I can stand on my own two feet just fine," she remarked.

He chuckled and the two shared wry grins. "I never thought that you couldn't. I think now she's sure though," he paused and glanced at the door. "I'm going to find the others and get something to eat. Since we helped prepare the food, we might as well enjoy it too."

She nodded in agreement. "I have to trade shoes first. Thanks for… being here."

They paused, as if waiting for the other person to do something. Violet giggled and then hugged Priam. He hugged her back and before she pulled away, he whispered, "You look beautiful." Blushing scarlet, she smiled her thanks and disappeared into the sleeping area while he left the room and found the others at the buffet.

Roslin and Adama found that they worked better married than they could have imagined. She spent most nights on _Galactica_ while Violet was given permanent guest quarters on the ship. Violet and Priam continued to teach, becoming better friends as time passed. On her eighteenth birthday, the four of them along with Lee, Anders, Kara, and Dee had shared dinner and Violet had received a few gifts.

Her parents handed her a rectangular one wrapped in a towel, since there was no wrapping paper. She looked at the object with keen interest when she saw that it was a dark green photo album. "Your other one was full, and we thought you should start a new one with some new memories," Adama commented.

Violet smiled brightly as she noticed that the first couple of pages had pictures of their recent wedding. "It's wonderful. Thank you very much," she conveyed.

Priam cleared his throat. "There is one more thing," he paused as all eyes focused on him and he faced the admiral. "With your permission, sir, I'd like to take your daughter out for dinner tomorrow night."

Adama grinned broadly. "For Kobol's sake, Priam, at ease," he relayed. The he looked toward Violet. "It's your call, Vie."

She walked over to the young man and smiled politely. "Yes, I would like that very much," she responded. Later, Priam was the last guest to leave and he gave Violet a quick peck on the cheek as he headed out of the door.

The following evening, Adama talked to the two before they headed out on their first actual date. "Now I have to say this because I'm your father. You two be home by a descent hour, and no funny business," he instructed.

Violet grinned wryly. "Dad, do really think that the two of us would get into any trouble?" she remarked.

Roslin giggled, standing to the right of her husband. He looked back at Priam and his daughter. "Him, probably not. You, we all need to keep an eye on. Might suddenly decide to save the ship again," he teased.

"Go on, you two, have fun," Roslin interjected. The younger two waved and headed off. Adama closed the door and turned back to his wife.

"You enjoy undermining me, don't you?" he goaded with a smirk.

She stepped closer to him kissed him tenderly. "You're so much fun to undermine, especially when you play along," she teased with mischief in her eyes.

"Oh? And what would you call 'playing along?'" he questioned as they sat down on the couch.

She answered him by kissing him slowly and languorously. "You know full well what I mean."

He took one last look at the closed door. "You think they'll be alright?"

"I'd trust them before I'd trust us," she answered.

"You're probably right. It's amazing how her being here managed to get us together," he commented.

She nodded, kissing him again. "Someday this will be a fascinating story to tell the grandchildren."

He groaned and shook his head. "Please not yet. Letting her date is bad enough. I want at least one member of this family not to flunk family planning." They laughed heartily, feeling content in each other's arms, and hopeful about the future.

Fin………………………

(A/N: Once again I apologize for the late posting of this chapter. The memorial service for the other _Galactica_ was my improvising based on one of Adama's speeches. I was speculating on the ring size).

(I had fun writing this story and I hope that it was a good read. My thanks to Mariel3, carolann, Trinity Everett, and csiAngel for reviewing :D).


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